RICHMOND, Va. - President Bush has renominated Claude Allen for the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which could lead to another battle with Democrats.
When the 2003 U.S. Senate session ended in December, Democratic leaders promised to oppose the nomination of Allen, deputy secretary for the Department of Health and Human Services, for a lifetime appointment to the 4th Circuit, which hears appeals from Virginia, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina and West Virginia.
The nomination of the 42-year-old Republican, who was Virginia's secretary of health and human resources under Gov. Jim Gilmore's administration, was returned to the White House when the Senate went home.
The move signaled Democrats' strong opposition and required the White House to resubmit Allen's nomination if Bush chose to pursue it. Tuesday, Bush renominated Allen.
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A former spokesman for retired Sen. Jesse Helms, R-N.C., Allen was criticized for his use of the term "queers" in 1984 during the Helms re-election campaign against former Gov. Jim Hunt, a Democrat. He criticized Hunt for his connections "with the queers."
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