51.   McCurry noted that Carns had gone through the Senate confirmation process as recently as last fall, when he was promoted before retiring from the military.

52.   Now the Senate confirmation process for federal judicial nominees is being affected.

53.   Peterson took up his post in May after a long Senate confirmation process.

54.   Plan B is to make sure that nominees who are confirmed by the Senate are as thoroughly maligned as possible during the confirmation process.

55.   Politics can never be separated from the confirmation process, but Rehnquist was right to describe Republican behavior as unusual.

56.   Sen. Trent Lott of Mississippi, the majority leader, has repeatedly warned President Clinton against bypassing the confirmation process to appoint Lee assistant attorney general for civil rights.

57.   Signs appear in the mounting meanness of the confirmation process.

58.   Still, the Republican-led Judiciary Committee has not acted to give him a hearing, the first step in the confirmation process.

59.   Successfully maneuvering through a field of landmines in his confirmation process, Kennard smoothed over concerns several senators initially raised over his nomination.

60.   The administration swiftly but quietly told Senate Republicans that the abortion issue would not complicate the confirmation process.