A firefighter whose reverse discrimination claim was rejected by Judge Sonia Sotomayor will be the marquee witness for the Republicans next week when the Senate Judiciary Committee considers her nomination to the Supreme Court.

Frank Ricci, the lead plaintiff in Ricci v. DeStefano, is among the 31 witnesses scheduled to testify at the confirmation hearings, which start July 13, the committee said Thursday.

He and fellow New Haven, Conn., firefighter Ben Vargas are among 14 witnesses the Republicans plan to call when the outside witnesses start to appear July 16.

The headline witness for Democrats, who have 15 on their list, will be David Cone, a former Major League Baseball player.

In addition to the witnesses called by the Republicans and the Democrats, the committee will hear from Kim Askew and Mary Boies representing the American Bar Association. Kicking off testimony from outside witnesses, they will address the organization’s rating, announced earlier this week, that Sotomayor is “well qualified” to serve on the Supreme Court.

Based on the announced schedule, the hearings will closely track the format of confirmation proceedings for John G. Roberts Jr. in 2005 and Samuel A. Alito Jr. in 2006.

On the first day, the senators from Sotomayor’s home state of New York, Democrats Charles E. Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand , will introduce the nominee, and Sotomayor and the committee members will deliver opening statements. Questioning of Sotomayor is scheduled to begin the second day, July 14. As with Roberts and Alito’s confirmation hearings, each committee member will have 30 minutes for questions during the first round and 20 minutes in the second. The schedule leaves open the possibility of additional rounds of questioning.

Ricci and Cone are likely to add a touch of star power to a portion of the hearings that often receive less media attention.

Republicans are likely to use the testimony of Ricci and Vargas to make the point that Sotomayor’s ruling, as well as her public speeches and association with a Latino legal advocacy group, suggest she is unable to set aside her own beliefs, particularly when the topic involves race.

Republicans have trumpeted how Ricci overcame dyslexia and scored high on a firefighters’ promotion exam that was later rejected by New Haven out of concern it might prompt lawsuits by lower-scoring minorities. The three-judge appellate court ruling in which Sotomayor took part upheld the city’s action, but in a 5-4 decision, the Supreme Court said the city was wrong to have thrown out the exam results.

Cone was the American League representative of the baseball players’ union during the 1995 baseball strike, and he is expected to testify about Sotomayor’s role as a U.S. district judge in New York in ending that strike.

Other Democratic witnesses include New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, former FBI Director Louis Freeh and two House Democrats, José E. Serrano and Nydia M. Velázquez .

Bloomberg has supported Sotomayor, a New York City native, and criticized attacks on her role as a member of the board of directors of what was known as the Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund.