President Bush on Tuesday defended Harriet Miers, his Supreme Court nominee, against charges that she lacked the principles or preparation needed for the country’s highest court, insisting she was “the best person I could find”.
In a long White House news conference, Mr Bush sought to reassure Republican conservatives, saying his White House counsel “is someone who shares my philosophy today and will have that same philosophy 20 years from now”.
The tabular content relating to this article is not available to view. Apologies in advance for the inconvenience caused. “She’s eminently qualified. She shares my judicial philosophy. She is a pioneer when it comes to the law. She’s an extraordinary woman,” he told reporters.
The nomination comes at a time when Mr Bush’s presidency has been weakened by war, storms and a growing fiscal deficit. He conceded there was “a diminished appetite in the short term” for reforming the Social Security pension scheme, an initiative that was to have been the crowning domestic achievement of his second term.
