10 Questions for Arlen Specter

By Arlen Specter, Massimo Calabresi

HE HAD TO BEAT BACK A CHALLENGE FROM CONSERVATIVES, WHO WERE WARY of his pro-choice views, but now Arlen Specter, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, is leading the Senate's scrutiny of President Bush's court nominees. The Pennsylvania Republican, 75, who recently revealed he has Hodgkin's disease, a form of cancer, spoke with TIME's Massimo Calabresi.

AFTER THE RELIGIOUS RIGHT TRIED TO BLOCK YOUR CHAIRMANSHIP, DID YOU MAKE ANY PROMISE TO PRESIDENT BUSH ABOUT HOW YOU WOULD VOTE ON JUDICIAL NOMINEES? My commitment was to give his nominees a prompt hearing and report them out of committee. I couldn't make a promise on a vote. I'm not going to assign my voting status as a United States Senator.

DOES THE RELIGIOUS RIGHT HAVE TOO MUCH INFLUENCE IN THE REPUBLICAN PARTY? No, I think they're entitled to all the influence they can muster. It's a free world, and they did a very effective job for President Bush in the election. You've got to give them a lot of credit. I just wish that moderate Republicans were as energetic.

THE DEMOCRATS ON YOUR COMMITTEE HAVE COME OUT SWINGING. WERE YOU SURPRISED AT THEIR ATTACKS ON JUDGE TERRENCE BOYLE FOR HIS RECORD ON CIVIL RIGHTS AND OTHER ISSUES? I respect their views, but we're making an appeal to the broader base of the Democratic constituency. I think Judge Boyle has a good record, and we're going to push him. I'm going to exercise every effort to get these judges confirmed and avoid the confrontation, Armageddon.

WOULD YOU SUPPORT ASSOCIATE JUSTICE ANTONIN SCALIA FOR CHIEF JUSTICE IF WILLIAM REHNQUIST HAS TO STEP DOWN? I'm not going to anticipate any of the specific nominations. I'm going to await the President's decisions, and whoever the nominee is, [including] if it's Scalia, we'll give him a comprehensive hearing.

HOW IMPORTANT IS IT, GIVEN THE SUPREME COURT'S CURRENT MAKEUP, TO HAVE A CHIEF JUSTICE WHO CAN REACH ACROSS IDEOLOGICAL DIVIDES AND BUILD CONSENSUS? I think that's very important, but Chief Justices have come from remarkably strange places. Nobody would have predicted that Earl Warren would have been able to do that on Brown v. Board of Education. When President Nixon tapped Warren Burger to be Chief Justice, he was a relatively unknown circuit judge and did very, very well.

HAVE YOU HEARD THAT JUSTICE JOHN PAUL STEVENS MIGHT BE CONSIDERING STEPPING DOWN? I talked with Justice Stevens in the barbershop the other day. There's nothing to it. He's a vigorous guy. And he's got a good regimen.

DO YOU HAVE A PROBLEM WITH CHANGING THE SENATE RULES TO MAKE IT EASIER TO OVERRIDE A FILIBUSTER BY DEMOCRATS OF BUSH'S COURT NOMINEES? Yeah. I think it would be an abrupt change that would cause problems with the Senate and the committee.

YOU'VE STARTED TREATMENT FOR HODGKIN'S DISEASE. HOW IS IT GOING? People ask me how I feel, and I say I really don't know how I'm supposed to feel.

HOW DOES CHEMOTHERAPY COMPARE WITH YOUR PREVIOUS HEALTH BATTLES--A BRAIN TUMOR AND A HEART- BYPASS OPERATION? [For the brain tumor] they put a parasol on your forehead and cut out a piece of your skull two inches by two inches, and then they take a scoop and go inside and fiddle with your brain. [For the bypass] they had my heart on the table, and I was Code Blue. And then there was the doctor who [mistakenly] diagnosed me with ALS and said I had a short time to live.

DO YOU EXPECT TO HOLD HEARINGS ON THE RENEWAL OF THE PATRIOT ACT? Yep. I think the Patriot Act is an important act and ought to be reauthorized. Breaking the barriers so that you can use, in criminal prosecution, evidence obtained on a warrant under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act is very important. I think that getting access to private records like library books without the traditional showing of probable cause needs to be re-examined. People on both the right and the left agree that there are civil-liberties questions involved. The secret of America is balance.