By Kathleen Hunter, CQ Staff

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said today that he would not filibuster the nomination of Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court.

“Me? No,” McConnell said when asked if he would try to block the confirmation process.

But the Kentucky Republican, who announced his opposition to Sotomayor last week, noted that anything could happen between now and the confirmation vote, which is looking like it could occur before the August recess begins.

“Any one senator — on either side of the aisle — can put us in a cloture situation. I don’t know of any Republicans who think that will be necessary,” said the Senate GOP leader.

But he added: “Whether that will pop up along the way, I couldn’t guarantee you.”

Even it does, the odds are that it wouldn’t get very far without support from Democratic side of the aisle. At least three Republicans — Sens. Richard Lugar of Indiana, Olympia J. Snowe of Maine and Mel Martinez of Florida — have already publicly announced their intention to vote for Sotomayor. And several other Republicans, including Sen. Jeff Sessions of Alabama, the ranking Republican on the Judiciary Committee, also have said they would not filibuster against the nominee.

McConnell declined to comment on whether it would be reasonable to hold a vote on Sotomayor’s nomination before the August recess.