Democratic Sen. John Kerry is trying to mobilize support for a filibuster to block nomination of Judge Samuel Alito to the U.S. Supreme Court, according to CNN.
The Massachusetts senator is making phone calls to Senate colleagues to prevent Republicans from getting the 60 votes they need to overcome a filibuster attempt, reports CNN congressional correspondent Ed Henry.
Kerry, in Davos, Switzerland, to attend the World Economic Forum, already has the support of his state's senior senator, Democrat Edward Kennedy.
Yesterday, Kerry urged a group of Democratic senators to join him in the filibuster attempt, although some senior party members worry the move could backfire
Responding to Kerry's call for a filibuster, Sen. James Inhofe, R-Okla., declared during floor remarks today, "This isn't going to happen."
"I know people get desperate fearing something is going to happen to their liberal agenda," he said, "... but nowhere did our founding fathers say that to approve a judge you had to have a super majority."
Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist has said that if the Democrats decide to filibuster, he would employ the "nuclear option" to ban the procedure, which requires a majority vote in the Republican-controlled Senate.
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