The Judiciary: The Haynsworth Showdown

Ever since the prospects for Clement Haynsworth’s confirmation to the Supreme Court began to fade, key Republican Senators have tried to persuade the Nixon Administration to withdraw the nomination and avoid an embarrassing, party-splitting showdown. Nixon has refused. Mustering every scintilla of White House prestige and pressure, he has sought to win over recalcitrant Senators, but with little success. As a result, Nixon now faces the biggest defeat of his young Administration.

Floor debate on the Haynsworth nomination is expected to begin this week. Both sides are careening toward it on a collision course. A head count by Republican leaders last week showed 54 Senators planning to vote against Haynsworth or leaning that way. Only 36 backed the taciturn South Carolinian. Ten remained undecided. To Nixon’s chagrin, the opposition included 18 Republicans, among them Minority Leader Hugh Scott, Assistant Leader Robert Griffin and Caucus Chairman Margaret Chase Smith. Haynsworth’s chances received a severe blow when Senator Jack Miller of Iowa announced his opposition. It was the first break in conservative G.O.P. ranks.

Renewed Efforts. Administration tallies disputed those figures, and in public and private White House aides continued to exude confidence in Haynsworth’s eventual confirmation. The Administration’s figures have as many as 52 Senators finally voting to raise Haynsworth to the seat previously held by Justice Abe Fortas. Haynsworth backers believe that the opposition has crested and that time is on their side. The Senate Judiciary Committee prepared to issue contradictory reports. According to the majority, “Judge Haynsworth is extraordinarily well qualified for the post to which he has been nominated.” The minority found his conduct “not acceptable for a nominee to the Supreme Court.”

Attorney General John Mitchell, who failed to catch Haynsworth’s peccadilloes when he originally screened the judge, was expected to push hard for the confirmation to redeem his own prestige. Nixon men talk of “renewed efforts” on behalf of Haynsworth. House Republican Leader Gerald Ford revealed that he is considering bringing impeachment proceedings against liberal Associate Justice William O. Douglas. Douglas has been criticized for accepting money from a foundation that received some funds from gambling interests. Ford denied any retaliation against Haynsworth foes, but said that the same strict ethical standards applied to Haynsworth should apply to all.

Win or lose, Nixon believes that he has ample cause to continue his fight. Were he to withdraw the nomination, he reasons, the act would lend credence to charges that Haynsworth was less than candid about his financial dealings. Nixon also stands to gain political points in the South; Southerners, who appreciate the style of the gallant loser, will credit the President for his valiant fight on behalf of their man. Nixon’s refusal to quit is also aimed at muting criticism that he has been a vacillating leader.

Venture Opposition. Even so, there is no doubt that a Haynsworth defeat would hurt the President. Having thrown his full weight behind the nomination, he cannot hope to retrieve his prestige unscathed. Party unity, already damaged by the fracas, will suffer further; Senators will perhaps be emboldened to venture more opposition to the President in the future.

Republican Senate leaders are painfully aware of all that, but they know that Nixon’s refusal to withdraw Haynsworth’s name presents many of their colleagues with a Hobson’s choice: displease the President or displease voters back home. Normally loyal Senators such as Griffin and Scott, who are from the large industrial states of Michigan and Pennsylvania, plan to displease Nixon. They are unwilling to antagonize large blocs of blacks, Jews, liberals and union members by backing a conservative Southerner for a seat held for 53 years by a succession of Jews.

The issue has collapsed party lines and resulted in a liberal-conservative split. Every Senate Democrat supporting Haynsworth, for example, except Alaska’s Mike Gravel, is from a Southern or Border state. And the judge has no G.O.P. backers from the liberal Northeast except Norris Cotton of rural New Hampshire. At week’s end, it appeared that the positions were almost frozen. A friend advised Nixon: “Don’t give up the ship.” Replied the President: “Me? Never.”