Sonia Sotomayor was confirmed in the full Senate today to be the next Associate Justice of the Supreme Court. She is scheduled to be sworn in on Saturday by the Chief Justice. She will be the 111th person to sit on the nation’s highest court. The vote took place in the mid afternoon after there were a few last speeches from various Senators.
The vote today proceeded much as it was expected to, with the nominee being confirmed by a comfortable margin. The vote was 68 in favor with 31 opposed. Ted Kennedy did not vote for health reasons, but publicly supported the nomination. Every single Democrat in the chamber, aside from Kennedy, voted in favor of the nomination. The two independents, Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Joe Lieberman of Connecticut, also voted in favor. Republicans were the lone voice of dissent today. Of course all of the 31 nay votes came from Republicans. Many who opposed the nomination declared that they would well before today. Of the nine Republicans who did favor confirmation, some had stated very early in the process that they would support Sotomayor. Others had signaled support more recently. A small number, voted today to confirm without having previously voiced any support.
The Republicans who voted to confirm were:
*** Lugar of Indiana
Mel Martinez of Florida
Olympia Snowe of Maine
Susan Collins of Maine
Lindsey Graham of South Carolina
Lamar Alexander of Tennessee
Kit Bond of Missouri
Judd Gregg of New Hampshire
George Voinovich of Ohio