March 15 (Bloomberg) -- Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid threatened to bring the Senate to a halt if Republicans try to change the chamber's rules to prevent the minority party from blocking President George W. Bush's judicial nominees.

In a letter to Majority Leader Bill Frist, Reid wrote that Democrats, who have 44 seats in the 100-member Senate, would refuse to cooperate on any legislation not related to the U.S. military presence in Iraq, national security measures and other ``critical government services.''

``Beyond that very limited scope, however, we will be reluctant to enter into any consent agreement that facilitates Senate activities, even on routine matters,'' Reid wrote in the letter released today.

In response to the use by Democrats of a parliamentary tactic to block votes on Bush's nominations for the federal bench by endless debate, or filibuster, Frist has warned that he would seek a rule change that would allow a simple majority of 51 votes to end discussion and move ahead with nominees. That would overturn a long-standing Senate rule requiring 60 votes to end a filibuster. Republicans have 55 seats in the Senate.

Reid, a Nevada Democrat, said during a news conference at the Capitol that he would ``rather dance than fight'' with Republican leaders. He said changing rules that the Senate has followed for two centuries would represent an ``arrogant abuse of power.''

`Irresponsible'

Frist said it was the Democrats who were abusing Senate tradition by blocking votes on the president's nominees who have support from a majority. He called Reid's threat to shut down the Senate ``irresponsible and partisan.''

Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the No. 2 Senate Republican leader, dismissed Reid's comments as an ``idle threat.''

Reid didn't specify what Democrats would do if Republicans change the vote rules. Under current Senate procedures, the minority party can effectively grind Senate's operations to a halt by refusing to agree to procedural short-cuts, such as dispensing with the reading of entire bills into the record.

Using a parliamentary maneuver to change the rule, as Frist says he is considering, has become known as the ``nuclear option'' because of the turmoil it can cause. Some Republicans, including Pennsylvania Senator Arlen Specter, say using the tactic would hurt both parties and the Senate. Republicans have used filibusters against judicial nominees and legislation when they were in the minority.

`Nuclear Option'

Specter is chairman of the Judiciary Committee, which has scheduled a vote Thursday on the nomination of William G. Myers III for the San Francisco-base 9th Circuit Court. His nomination was blocked during Bush's first term and he is the first of those being nominated again to be considered this year.

Reid wrote that if Frist would ``abandon the nuclear option, I can assure you that Senate Democrats will cooperate with you to consider legislation and nominations.''

During Bush's first term in office, the Senate confirmed 204 judicial nominees and Democrats blocked votes on 10 -- a confirmation rate of over 95 percent.

Bush renominated seven of those 10; two received recess appointments -- requiring that the Senate eventually review their nominations again. A third, Washington lawyer Miguel Estrada, formally withdrew his nomination.

During former President Bill Clinton's eight years in office, the Senate withheld a vote on 64 of Clinton's nominees.

To contact the reporter on this story: Richard Keil in Washington at dkeil@bloomberg.net; Laura Litvan in Washington at llitvan@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: March 15, 2005 15:16 EST