Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist continued his refusal to negotiate further on the issue of filibusters of judicial nominations. Frist basically said his offer remains unchanged but that he would not compromise on any plan that allows Democrats to continue to stall judicial nominees.

Frist's position is that he will allow the filibuster rules to remain unchanged in exchange for 100 hours of debate and a vote on all of President Bush's past and present nominees for federal judgeships.

The Democrats have used the filibuster in the Judiciary Committee to block those judicial nominees they regard as extreme. This is a long established tactic used by both parties. The Republicans used it against many of President Clinton's nominees in the last administration allowing Clinton to leave office with 60 of his nominees not yet confirmed by the Senate. This allowed Bush to fill those slots after he took office in 2001.

Now that the Republicans have control over the White House and both houses of Congress, Frist wants to end the holdups and amend the rules to make filibusters less possible. Under present rules, 60 votes in the Senate are needed to end a filibuster. Frist wants to change that to a simple majority.

Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid called Frist's proposal unacceptable. 'After 100 hours the rights of the minority are extinguished,' Reid explained in a speech on the Senate floor. 'This has never been about the lengths of the debate. This is about checks and balances.'

Earlier, Frist had challenged Democrats to allow the debate to continue saying, 'Judicial nominees are being denied. Justice is being denied. The solution is simple, allow senators to do their jobs and vote.'

Reid had proposed a compromise in which three of Bush's stalled nominees would be sent to the floor for a vote in exchange for the withdrawal of the nomination of Henry Saad. The Democrats would then agree to not block the confirmation of one more of a group of four stalled Bush nominees from the following list: Priscilla Owen, Janice Rogers Brown, William Myers and William Pryor. It was not made clear which of the four would be approved.

Frist said previously that he would not accept any offer that lets Democrats filibuster past or future judicial nominees. And Reid said he would not accept any deal that keeps Democrats from blocking future nominees. And so, we have an ongoing dispute with no end in sight.