[JURIST] The US Senate Judiciary Committee [official website] has scheduled a hearing [notice] for Friday, March 31 on a resolution [text, PDF] introduced by Sen. Russ Feingold (D-WI) [official website] censuring President Bush for allegedly breaking the law with his warrantless domestic surveillance program [JURIST news archive]. Feingold introduced the censure resolution [JURIST report] in early March, but it received only a lukewarm reception [JURIST report] from fellow Senate Democrats. Judiciary Committee chairman Sen. Arlen Specter (R-PA) [official website] says he wants to explore the issues surrounding the proposed censure, but does not intend to turn the session into a political forum, adding that he believes the censure proposal is baseless. Feingold had said that if the Judiciary Committee did not deal with the resolution "expeditiously", he would reintroduce it in the full Senate.

Some Republicans insist that the censure plan indicates that Democrats will attempt to take action against President Bush if they gain control of either the House or the Senate in the upcoming 2006 Congressional elections. The New York Times has more.