The battle over judicial nominations in the Senate will finally come to a head in the next two weeks, the outcome of which is still up in the air. Sheilagh Murray and Dana Milbank have the story for The Washington Post:

Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) served notice yesterday that he will move next week to bring President Bush's judicial nominees to the full Senate for an up-or-down vote as lawmakers closed in on a last-minute compromise to end the conflict over judges.

An aide to Frist said Senate Republicans would bring the fight over judges to the Senate floor on Wednesday and have a showdown vote between Friday and May 25 on one of two women Bush has nominated to appellate courts, Priscilla R. Owen and Janice Rogers Brown. Republicans have said they plan to abolish the filibusters that Democrats have used to block confirmation of several judges, inviting retaliation from a minority party that has threatened to disrupt Senate proceedings for months. The proposed change in Senate rules has been called the "nuclear option" by members of both parties.

Despite the brinkmanship, Frist and Senate Democratic leader Harry M. Reid of Nevada are considering different ways to resolve the fate of all seven of the current nominees who had previously been blocked by filibuster. One potential agreement would guarantee that two of the nominees would be confirmed and the other five would be granted votes with no assurance of the outcome. The handling of the other five nominees remains the main sticking point between the GOP and Democratic leaders.

[...]

Though nothing is fixed, negotiators believe they may have the seed of a real solution that allows Frist to bring all the nominees to floor, while leaving the filibuster rule intact -- a crucial demand of the Democrats, who want the option of using the filibuster on future Supreme Court nominees. Democrats are increasingly optimistic that they may be able to attract enough Republican support to kill the rule-change effort outright.

Who are these possible Republican defectors? The AP's Jesse J. Holland takes a look.

Seven Republican senators will determine the outcome of a showdown this week between the president and Congress — and a minority within it — over who is going to shape the federal courts.

Barring any unforeseen developments, these are the lawmakers in the make-or-break position when it comes to deciding whether to allow a Senate minority to block a president's nominees for the federal bench.

The senators are Susan Collins of Maine, Chuck Hagel of Nebraska, Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, John Warner of Virginia, Mike DeWine of Ohio, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and John Sununu of New Hampshire.

[...]

Some of the seven Republicans, including Collins, have made up their mind but are not saying how they will vote. Warner and others say they have yet to decide — and hope they will not have to.

"I'm always working on the issue," Warner said last week. "I'm hopeful the leaders can reach a compromise. I'm optimistic we can reach a compromise."

So far, only Republican Sens. John McCain of Arizona and Lincoln Chafee of Rhode Island have broken party ranks, expressing concern about a change that could permanently reduce minority rights in the Senate. Vote counters in each party say Republican Olympia Snowe of Maine also is likely to side with Democrats.

Make sure to check in on Monday to find out what former Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole (R-KS) told me about his feelings on the nuclear option, because you might be surprised.