Capital Briefs

* BOLTON'S BRIGADE: Former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and former Reagan UN Ambassador Jeane Kirkpatrick (see coverbox story) were not the only significant figures last week to come to the defense of John Bolton, whose nomination as UN ambassador has been held up in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee by the fickleness of Sen. George Voinovich (R.-Ohio)

Thirty-two former government officials who served with Bolton at the Justice Department-including former Attorneys General Ed Meese and DickThornburgh and Deputy Attorneys General Frank Keating and William Weld-signed a letter to Foreign Relations Chairman Richard Lugar (R.-lnd.) expressing their confidence in Bolton. The signers accused Bolton's adversaries of "character assassination," adding: "Not one of us has ever witnessed conduct on his part that resembles that which has been alleged." In a separate letter, Bolton also won the backing of 43 former co-workers at the American Enterprise Institute. (Full texts of both letters are available at HumanEventsOnline.com.)

* CONSERVATIVES RESTLESS: Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist's (R.-Tenn.) three-month delay in triggering the "nuclear option," a Senate rule change that would forbid filibustering judicial nominees, is beginning to test the patience of conservative activists.

In January, Frist vowed action in February. The Senate returns from a week-long recess May 9. But top Frist aides told other Capitol Hill staffers late last week that their boss is still not ready to pull the trigger, further frustrating many conservatives. "We've made it clear that patience is running out," said Richard Lessner, executive director of the American Conservative Union. Added Manuel Miranda, chairman of the National Coalition to End the Judicial Filibuster: "Were it to be delayed beyond the next week, the Senate GOP should expect tens of thousands of angry phone calls and faxes to tie up their lines."

* D-DAY IN MAY: The long delay in confirming Bush's nominees was initially blamed on Senate Judiciary Chairman Arlen Specter (R.-Pa.), who was slow to move appellate court nominees Janice Rogers Brown and Priscilla Owen out of committee. But after Specter fulfilled his promise April 21, Frist did not move those nominees to the Senate floor immediately, prompting anxiety among conservatives that he didn't have the 50 Republican votes (plus Vice President Cheney) needed to pass the "nuclear option."

Majority Whip Mitch McConnell (R.-Ky.) has since quelled some fears: "I never announce my whip count. But I'm telling you, there's no doubt in my mind-and I'm a pretty good counter of votes-that we have the votes we need," he told the Washington Times. Meanwhile, Republican sources, noting the importance of ending the use of judicial filibusters before there is a Supreme Court vacancy (which could happen this summer), predict Frist will indeed force a crisis over judicial nominations this month. Bottom line: D-Day is coming. But is it for Frist, or for Senate Democrats? The month of May will tell.

* FOURTH ANNIVERSARY: Four years ago, on May 9, 2001, President Bush announced his first 11 appellate court nominations, including the selection of Texas Supreme Court Justice Priscilla Owen for a seat on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit. "I urge senators of both parties to rise above the bitterness of the past to provide a fair hearing and a prompt vote to every nominee," Bush said then. 'That should be the case for no matter who lives in this house and no matter who controls the Senate."

Owen and Terrence Boyle, picked for a seat on the Richmond-based 4th Circuit, are still waiting for Senate confirmation. .A third nominee, Miguel Estrada, eventually withdrew his name after Senate Democrats launched an unprecedented filibuster against him in March 2003. Owen was the subject of four failed clôture votes in 2003, the last coming on Nov. 14, 2003.

* FREE-SPEECH FIGHT? During its next term in October, the U.S. Supreme Court will take up the issue of whether federal funding can be withheld from colleges that deny access to military recruiters. The case reached the high court after a November decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit effectively gave 31 law schools suing the Pentagon the right to block recruiters without having to worry about losing government funding. The appeals court ruled that a 1994 federal law known as the Solomon Amendment-which requires colleges receiving federal aid to provide access to military recruiters-violated the "free-speech rights" of schools..

* RUSSIA ANDTHE G-8: Representatives Christopher Cox (R.-Calif.) and Tom Lantos (D.-Calif.) introduced legislation last week urging the suspension of Russia's membership in the Group of 8 nations until that country adheres to international standards of democracy. "Russia has failed to complete a successful transition from communism to free enterprise, and from a Soviet police state to a stable, securely democratic society. Vladimir Putin needs to show that his nation belongs in the same league with the other G-7 members," Cox said. Cox recently wrote to Putin in response to the Russian president's comment that the collapse of the Soviet Union was "the greatest geopolitical catastrophe of the century." Cox replied: 'The great catastrophe of the last century in Russia was the Soviet Union itself." (Full text of the letter is at HumanEventsOnline.com.)