APTN
	Sen. Rick Santorum, R-Pa., speaks during the fifth hour of a filibuster last night in Senate chambers. (Image from video). The 30 hours of uninterrupted overnight debate revolves around President Bush's blocked judicial nominees.

WASHINGTON -- With coffee and cots on hand, the Senate last night launched an all-night showdown over whether to permit votes on four of President Bush's judicial nominees that have been blocked by the Democrats.

Sen. Rick Santorum, R-Pa., the GOP's No. 3 leader in the Senate, is the ringleader for the 30-hour debate, which has been dubbed by some Republicans as "Justice for Judges." Democrats and others who oppose the four nominees have responded by calling on Bush to nominate "Judges for Justice."

Senior senators planned to spend much of the night on the Senate floor or napping in their "hideaway" offices, which are tucked away in corridors near the main Senate chamber. Cots and blankets have been put in place in an anteroom near the Senate floor for more junior senators, whose offices are more distant, to bunk down during the Capitol sleep-over.

The 30-hour marathon marks the first time the Senate has been in session past 4 a.m. since 1992, when Sen. Alphonse D'Amato, R-N.Y. refused to let the Senate adjourn because of his opposition to a tax bill.

The focus of the debate is the Democrats' decision to filibuster four federal appeals court nominees: Alabama Attorney General William Pryor, Texas Judge Priscilla Owen, Mississippi Judge Charles Pickering and lawyer Miguel Estrada, who has since withdrawn his nomination.

Democrats also have threatened to filibuster over confirmation of several other nominees, including California Supreme Court Justice Janice Rogers Brown.

Republicans need 60 votes to overcome a filibuster and approve the nominations but haven't been able to find them in a Senate with 51 Republicans, 48 Democrats and one independent.

Democrats say they are using Senate rules to block nominees who they believe are ideologically extreme, noting that 98 percent of Bush's nominees have been confirmed and that 68 of Democratic former President Bill Clinton's nominees were never even voted on because of Republican delaying tactics.

But Republicans say the Democrats are changing the rules and breaking with a tradition in which judicial nominees are typically permitted an up-or-down vote.

"We're going to have a good debate on this issue, which we are trying to bring to the attention of the American public," Santorum told reporters. "After 214 years of doing it one way, the Democrats have decided that they are going to fundamentally change the way that we approve judicial nominees.

"We want ... to inform the public about the constitutional corruption that has gone on here," said Santorum, who said he was ready to stay up all night -- even without coffee, which he said gives him "the shakes."

Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D., responded that Democrats have allowed the confirmation of 168 of Bush's judicial nominees so far. He called the 30-hour debate a "colossal waste of time," and said the Senate's focus now should be on efforts to help the millions of unemployed Americans.

"One-hundred-sixty-eight to four is a record that most people would envy," Daschle told reporters. "Our real concern in all of this is that, instead of being concerned about four jobs, we ought to be concerned about 3 million. Our economy is struggling today. There are millions of Americans today who are out of work because this Congress and this administration haven't responded."

The GOP efforts to highlight the Democratic blockade of the four judgeship confirmations drew strong support from the Bush administration. "What the president continues to emphasize is that the Senate needs to move forward and give his nominees an up-or-down vote," said White House spokesman Scott McClellan.

Meanwhile, civil-rights and abortion-rights groups distributed "care packages" containing coffee and breath mints. These groups have been vocal in their opposition to the four nominees.

Under the rules for the talk-a-thon, Democrats and Republicans planned to split the 30 hours of debate evenly. Generally, the schedule called for Republicans to talk for a half-hour, and then Democrats are to speak for the same duration.

While neither party expects any real progress on resolving the issue of the blocked nominations, both sides said they hoped to catch the other side napping -- literally. If that happens, both Democrats and Republicans sides pledged to spring a surprise vote. Republicans would try to push through the four federal judges that have been blocked by Democrats. The Democrats say they would call for a vote on various pieces of legislation, including one to raise the minimum wage.

"If the floor is not protected, the vote [on the judicial nominees] will be called," Santorum warned.

He said he expected to be awake much of the night, although he added that he might try to "catch a catnap" now and then. He said he was scheduled to speak from 5 a.m. until 5:30 a.m. but would also be part of news conferences Republican leaders were scheduling on the half hour throughout the night.

Santorum said he deliberately took the 5 a.m. time slot because he considered it the worst one.

On the other side, freshman Sen. Mark Pryor of Arkansas was slated to hold down the fort alone for Democrats throughout most of the wee hours.