Switch to Desktop Site  Three judges are flash points in Senate
clash  A vote on their nominations Thursday could lead to long-
awaited showdown over the federal courts.  About these ads  With
tomorrow's committee vote on three of President Bush's most
controversial judicial nominations, the Senate - urged on by
some of the most powerful interests in Washington - is poised
for a long-awaited showdown over the federal courts.  Each has
been nominated before - and denied a vote on the floor of the
Senate based on arguments ranging from incompetence to
extremism. But this time, Senate GOP leaders say a Democratic
filibuster will not stand. They threaten a rule change that
Democrats warn will shut down the Senate.  Until now, Judiciary
chairman Arlen Specter (R) of Pennsylvania had moved to a
committee vote only those nominations that he expected could win
enough bipartisan support to avoid a filibuster. With Thursday's
vote, that strategy ends - a move that could signal that the so-
called "nuclear option" is immi