CQ TODAY ONLINE NEWS
July 7, 2009 – 12:14 a.m.
GOP Looks for Ways to Delay Sotomayor Hearing
By Keith Perine, CQ Staff
The top Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee says his party might throw up procedural roadblocks to delay next week’s planned confirmation hearing for Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor.
“We feel like the date was too early,” Sen. Jeff Sessions of Alabama said Monday after committee Republicans met to discuss their strategy for questioning Sotomayor.
Republican senators want more time to prepare their questions for the nominee, especially about a legal advocacy group for Latinos that Sotomayor was affiliated with in the past.
The group, LatinoJustice PRLDEF, turned over hundreds of pages of documents to the committee last week.
Sessions said the committee had received “only about 1,000 pages” out of 300 boxes of material in the group’s archives.
“I just don’t know whether everything’s been produced that’s legitimate to be produced,” he said.
Sessions said Republicans would press that point in the coming days. But he did not rule out using procedural tools to stall the hearing, which is scheduled to begin July 13.
“We’re going to try to be ready but if something comes up we’ll definitely exercise what options are available,” he said.
One tool at Sessions’ disposal is a Senate rule that prevents committees from meeting for more than two hours after the start of a session without the consent of the full Senate. That rule gives the minority party the power to disrupt their colleagues’ daily schedules.
Sessions said he’s also worried that four of the Judiciary Committee’s GOP members could be tied up next week in meetings of the Senate Finance Committee, which is working on a major health care overhaul.
“If they tried to force both of those at the same time it would just be unacceptable,” Sessions said.
With both “on television at the same time,” said Charles E. Grassley , R-Iowa, who sits on both panels, “What senator wants to be absent from either one of them?”
Comments
Haven't we seen enough devastation due to the 'Gloss Over' attitudes during the 2008 election. The Dems know what she's about & that's precisely why they want to shove her through; exactly like the 'porkulous'. America & the World would crash around us if it wasn't shoved down our throats. It's time the 'Affirmative Action Baby' {her words, not mine} quit getting free rides to positions & rewards she can't 'earn' on her own.
The Senate is becoming a banana republic. MN electing a class clown is the start of the undoing of this republic. Next we will be electing convicts - oh wait the DEMs already have done that - his name is alcee hastings.
These comments are mindblowing - ignorant, dishonest, and angry. Calm down, take your meds, and try to be fair. If the hearings are delayed, there might not be time to conduct the hearings before the Court starts the next session in Oct, esp. if she's not confirmed. She also would be the second "affirmative action baby" on the court, just the first to be honest enough to admit it. Do you really want to compare her record to Thomas' during the same time frame (before appointment)? She also was a Republican appointment to the federal court in 1992. She's not Thomas, and she certainly isn't Myers (thank God). The nomination of Myers sent Republicans as well as Democrats into revolt due to her lack of qualifications. Be honest - if you have a problem with her ideology or performance, say so, don't lower yourself to the level of personal attack to avoid being honest. Finally, although I'm not sure what it has to do with this nomination, do we really want to discuss criminal behavior by elected officials after the 2006 Republican meltdown? Tear yourself away from the talking points, do some research, and come to your own conclusion, rather than relying on others to do your thinking for you.
Gotta love the Republican party of failure. As a real political force, the GOP died many years ago. Sotomayer will go on to the Suprement Court, and the conservatives will remain stuck in the mud of their own ignorance.
Her record shows that she has been a noderate to conservative judge. She is being supported by virtually every law enforcement organization in the nation. For a centrist like President Obama she is a perfect nominee. I, however, would have preferred a genuine liberal.
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