After almost a week of committee hearings, the fate of Sonia Sotomayor is all but sealed.
On Monday, the hearings got underway with all the opening statements. The nominee as well as all the committee members each had a few minutes to make a few comments. These comments were about what you’d expect all around. That is to say they were not terribly interesting, from a policy standpoint. However, Monday feature a very dry and completely unfunny Al Franken (I suppose that’s news-worthy).
One Tuesday, the real work of the hearings began. Senators on the committee had the chance to ask Ms. Sotomayor questions. They didn’t stop asking questions until Thursday. For the most part, few questions in the general were actually answered. Of course Ms. Sotomayor addressed each issue that was presented to her, however, few if any answers ever came close to revealing the true workings of the nominee’s judicial philosophy.
The hearings ended on Thursday. The Democrats have predictably given Sotomayor an enthusiastic endorsement. Republicans on the other have not uniformly rejected the nomination. Some Republicans have even publicly endorsed her. Those who have announced their intention to vote for confirmation include *** Lugar (R-IN), Olympia Snowe (R-ME), Mel Martinez (R-FL).
One of the main groups to voice opposition to the nomination has been the NRA. The gun rights advocacy group has been one of the few political entities (or politicians) to announce steadfast opposition to Sotomayor’s confirmation. One politician who has announced that he’ll oppose is Mitch McConnell (R-KY).
Ms. Sotomayor will be voted out of committee later this week. The full confirmation vote before the whole Senate will take place soon thereafter, probably in early August. The Republican leadership has already said that it will not attempt to block a vote. Even if they had wanted to attempt such a move, it would have been near impossible considering the numerical advantage the Democrats currently hold. And so it appears Sonia Sotomayor will soon be the next Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court.