WASHINGTON -- Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid of Nevada has described as the highlight of his career his successful effort in 2005 to block the so-called "nuclear option" that would have allowed approval of judicial nominees by a simple majority vote.

He might have to do it again.

Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., reportedly intends to schedule a vote by Memorial Day on Brett Kavanaugh, nominated by President Bush to the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Washington, D.C.

Kavanaugh, 41, worked for former independent counsel Kenneth Starr before serving as associate counsel to Bush.

Last week, Reid said Democrats might filibuster Kavanaugh's nomination. He added that the American Bar Association had lowered Kavanaugh's rating.

"I'm not sure he's ever been in a courtroom," Reid said.

The Senate Judiciary Committee conducted a second hearing Tuesday on Kavanaugh's nomination at the demand of Democrats.

On Wednesday, Reid said he views Kavanaugh as a Republican partisan with minimal qualifications. But Reid did not repeat his threat to filibuster Kavanaugh's nomination.

As critical as Reid was of Kavanaugh, his comments about another Bush judicial nominee, U.S. District Judge Terrence Boyle of North Carolina, were more scathing.

Boyle has been nominated by Bush to serve on the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Va.

"The man has been reversed 165 times. He's now clearly enmeshed in an ethics problem," Reid said. "I would hope even this Republican majority would say, 'You know, we've gone a little too far.' "

Last week, Reid charged that Boyle bought General Electric stock during a trial in which he ruled in favor of the company. He also claimed that Boyle, 60, was "part of the cabal" working with former Sen. Jesse Helms, R-N.C., to "stop African Americans from going on the 4th (U.S.) Circuit Court of Appeals (in North Carolina)."

"If he deserves to be a federal district court judge, I don't know what a federal district court judge is all about," Reid said.

A bipartisan group of senators known as the Gang of 14, which averted a nuclear option showdown last year, is scheduled to meet in the next few days on the Kavanaugh nomination. It's not yet clear whether the Gang of 14 will meet to discuss Boyle.

"I don't think there's much stomach on either side for another showdown on the nuclear option," said Carl Tobias, a law professor at the University of Richmond who previously taught at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

"It seems unlikely there will be a filibuster of Kavanaugh after the second hearing," Tobias said. "Democrats may try to filibuster Boyle, but the Gang of 14 could stop that if they decide extraordinary circumstances do not exist (to justify the filibuster)."

Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, who serves on the Senate Judiciary Committee, on Tuesday said Republicans are ready to fight for Kavanaugh and Boyle.

"Politically and every other way, the American people don't agree that any party ought to be able to obstruct the up or down vote on judicial nominees," Cornyn said. "So that's why I think it's a winner for us."