By Sergio Bustos
Gannett News Service

Judge Henry Saad is sworn in before the Senate Judiciary Committee Wednesday (Associated Press photo)

WASHINGTON - The confirmation of Michigan judge Henry Saad to a federal appeals court in Cincinnati remained in doubt Wednesday after an unusual hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Democratic committee members boycotted Saad's testimony, the latest episode in a nasty dispute involving the committee's Republican chairman and Michigan's two Democratic senators, Carl Levin and Debbie Stabenow.

Democrats are angry that panel chairman Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, called for the confirmation hearing despite objections from Levin and Stabenow, who are protesting the committee's past treatment of judicial candidates nominated by former President Bill Clinton.

Levin and Stabenow registered their objections by filing negative "blue slips" on Saad, who was nominated to the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals by President Bush. Democrats say that should have been enough to deny Saad a committee hearing, based on longstanding Senate tradition. Hatch disagrees.

The blue-slip procedure allows home-state senators to effectively veto judicial nominees they oppose.

Resolving the partisan squabble is critical to reducing the growing backlog of cases in the 6th Circuit, which covers Kentucky, Ohio, Tennessee and Michigan. The court has the largest number of vacancies of any of the nation's 13 circuit appellate courts. Four of 16 seats are empty. The remaining sitting judges are split equally between Democratic and Republican appointees.

There was little sign at Wednesday's hearing that the political impasse will end anytime soon.

"This nominee deserves an up-or-down vote," Hatch said.

He said he plans to hold a committee vote in September on Saad's nomination. If the nomination survives that vote, the full Senate would vote on whether to confirm Saad.

Levin and Stabenow, who are not members of the Judiciary Committee, told panel members Wednesday that former Republican Sen. Spencer Abraham of Michigan, now secretary of energy, used the blue-slip tradition to block two of Clinton's 6th Circuit nominees. Those nominees - Michigan state appeals court Judge Helene White and attorney Kathleen McCree Lewis - never received a hearing before the committee.

The Michigan senators and Democratic members of the Judiciary Committee accused Hatch and the Bush administration of practicing a "double standard" on judicial nominees to suit their goal of placing more conservative judges on federal courts.

Levin and Stabenow also repeated a compromise offer to create a bipartisan judicial committee that would recommend potential nominees to the White House. Hatch dismissed the proposal, saying "it's too late."

Hatch denied that he broke with Senate tradition by moving ahead with Saad's confirmation hearing, saying the blue-slip tradition does not apply to nominees to federal appellate courts that have jurisdiction in multiple states.

He also said he is working on a possible compromise on Saad and three other Bush nominees to the 6th Circuit Court, but he did not elaborate.