Dec. 23 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. President George W. Bush will resubmit 20 federal judicial nominations, reigniting a battle with Democrats who accuse the nominees of hostility to abortion rights and the environment.

The list includes seven of the 10 candidates whose nominations failed during Bush's first term because of Democratic filibusters that blocked Senate confirmation votes. Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid called the nominees ``extremist'' and said the Senate shouldn't reconsider them.

Bush will have a bigger Republican majority in the Senate in January than in his first term -- 55 of the 100 seats. That's still five votes shy of the 60 needed to end filibusters.

White House spokesman Scott McClellan said Bush's nominees are ``highly qualified.'' The Senate has a ``constitutional obligation to vote up or down'' on them, McClellan said in a statement in Washington.

The president's list includes William Pryor, who is serving on the Atlanta-based 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals after the president appointed him on a temporary basis while Congress was out of session. As a recess appointee, Pryor needs Senate confirmation to stay on the court.

Nominees Blocked

Bush also is re-nominating Priscilla Owen for the New Orleans-based 5th Circuit; Richard Allen Griffin, David W. McKeague and Henry Saad for the Cincinnati-based 6th Circuit; Janice Rogers Brown for the D.C. Circuit; and William G. Myers III for the San Francisco-based 9th Circuit. Senate Democrats successfully filibustered those nominations during Bush's first term.

Others on Bush's list never reached the Senate floor. That group includes Terrence W. Boyle, a federal judge in North Carolina who was nominated 3 1/2 years ago for a seat on the Richmond, Virginia-based 4th Circuit.

``The president has decided to re-nominate many highly qualified and capable individuals to serve as federal judges,'' Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, a Republican from Tennessee, said in a statement.

Opponents say many of the stalled nominees opposed abortion rights, preservation of the environment and civil rights safeguards. ``It's a slap in the face of the Senate and a show of contempt for many of the issues Americans care about the most,'' said Nan Aron, director of the Alliance for Justice, which opposes a number of Bush's nominees.

Questions on Memo

Another nominee, William J. Haynes II, faces questions over his role in a Defense Department legal memo that said the president couldn't be prosecuted if he were to authorize the torture of suspected terrorists. Hayes, who served as Pentagon general counsel, is a nominee for the 4th Circuit.

Bush used the stalled nominations as an issue in his Nov. 2 re-election campaign. Democrats such as Tom Daschle, the Senate minority leader who lost his re-election race in South Dakota, pointed to the Senate's confirmation of the bulk of Bush's nominees. The Senate approved more than 200 judicial nominees during Bush's first term.

``The American people sent a strong message on Nov. 2 against the obstructionist tactics that, unfortunately, we saw all too often in past four years,'' said Senator John Cornyn, a Republican from Texas who serves on the Judiciary Committee that will consider the nominations.

`Symbolic' Fight

The fight over judicial nominations is ``symbolic to a large degree,'' said Howard Bashman, a Philadelphia lawyer whose ``How Appealing'' Web site focuses on appellate litigation. ``Many conservative nominees have made it through the confirmation process. It does appear the Democrats are picking and choosing selectively who to filibuster.''

Republicans are considering changing the filibuster rules so that a majority could force a vote on any judicial nomination.

Battles over the appellate nominees may be a preview of an even higher-stakes fight over the Supreme Court. Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist, 80, is being treated for thyroid cancer and hasn't attended a court session since October.

``This move suggests that Bush has no intention of negotiating with the Senate Democrats on judicial appointments,'' said Thomas Mann, a fellow at the Brookings Institution in Washington. ``Confrontation and war are the strategies of choice.''

Twelve of Bush's nominees are for seats on federal appeals courts. Eight others would serve on federal district courts.

To contact the reporters on this story: Greg Stohr in Washington at gstohr@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: December 23, 2004 16:44 EST