1.   And beyond that, any successor would face the near certainty of a bruising confirmation battle in the Republican-controlled Senate.

2.   And the question is how much these early confirmation battles will cost him.

3.   Ashcroft had expected a confirmation battle in the Senate.

4.   Ashcroft is expected to face the fiercest confirmation battle of all.

5.   Bork was rejected by the Senate after a tumultuous confirmation battle.

6.   But Chernomyrdin is unlikely to face the bruising confirmation battle that Kiriyenko endured this spring.

7.   But it should fool no one that this event will be profoundly different than those headline-grabbing confirmation battles.

8.   But the low-key proceedings for the second consecutive year put in high relief the contentious period of Supreme Court confirmation battles.

9.   Confirmation battles increasingly reflect unresolved policy disputes.

10.   Complicating the confirmations of Satcher and Lee is that both jobs have storied histories of bitter confirmation battles.