Judiciary Committee Approves Sotomayor

(NEWSER) - Senate Republicans locked arms against Sonia Sotomayor yesterday … or would have, if they’d bothered to stay for the Judiciary Committee’s vote. Instead, half ducked out, leaving Jeff Sessions to repeat “No by proxy,” over and over, writes Dana Milbank in the Washington Post. It was an ugly display of partisanship—though, as Orrin Hatch pointed out, Democrats started it by opposing justices Roberts and Alito. More»

Senate judiciary chair: it's a 'reasonable schedule'

(AP) - Confirmation hearings for Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor will convene on July 13, says the Senate Judiciary Committee chairman. Patrick Leahy said the date represents a "reasonable schedule" that would give committee members several more weeks to prepare. President Obama has urged the Senate to vote before it leaves for a congressional recess in August; Republicans have pressed for more time to consider the nomination. More»

Republican embraces bipartisanship on Sotomayor nomination

(NEWSER) - Lindsey Graham’s been on the Republican hot seat since throwing his support behind Sonia Sotomayor, but he doesn’t think much of the purity police attacking him. “I have no desire to be up here in an irrelevant status,” the senior senator from South Carolina tells Politico. “If we chase this attitude that you have to say ‘no’ to every Democratic proposal … then I don’t want to be part of the movement, because it’s a dead-end movement.” More»

(NEWSER) - Sonia Sotomayor's confirmation is in the bag, but this week's hearings have a real value, writes Eugene Robinson: They are exposing the Republican Party's "refusal to accept the basic principle of diversity." For the Washington Post columnist, the anger surrounding the judge's "wise Latina" remark rests on a creepy belief that only minorities and women have special identities, and "being white and male is seen instead as a neutral condition, the natural order of things." More»

(NEWSER) - The White House is working hard to ensure an easy confirmation for Sonia Sotomayor, with John Roberts' perfect-10 testimony as a model. Will she sail through? Politico lists six things to watch.

1. That 'wise Latina' remark. Republicans are obsessed with it, and she needs to explain it without sounding phony. But Dems say she won't apologize.
2. Her broken ankle. Sotomayor might need an "injury time out" if it acts up—good for sympathy points or a quick breather.