WASHINGTON, Sept. 25 (UPI) -- With his approval ratings slumping, President Bush may have trouble filling an upcoming vacancy on the Supreme Court, a published report says.
Senate Republican strategists say members of their party have grown more willing to disagree with the White House on divisive issues. Some say they will vote against a nominee who leans too far to the left or right on major issues such as abortion.
"This is certainly a different level of evaluation," Senator Olympia Snowe, a Republican from Maine told the New York Times. "Especially because of the balance of power on the court."
More conservative members of the Republican Party such as Sen. Sam Brownback of Kansas said they want a nominee who will vote to overturn abortion rights.
"I think you are going to see a contentious battle regardless of who is nominated," he said. "Even if it is Judge Roberts' twin brother."
Bush has nominated U.S. Circuit Judge John Roberts as the next chief justice of the United States. He still has to name a successor to Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, who is stepping down as soon as a replacement is confirmed by the Senate.
