Sotomayor Prepares to Meet With Key Senators

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/06/01/AR2009060103541.html?wprss=rss_politics
Republicans May Stall Confirmation

Sonia Sotomayor huddled with administration lawyers at the White House yesterday, preparing for her first visits with key senators since becoming President Obama's choice for the Supreme Court as Republicans reiterated that they are in no hurry to confirm her to the post.

Sotomayor, who is in line to become the first Latina and third woman to serve on the high court, continued to put the finishing touches on a detailed Senate questionnaire in advance of her courtesy calls to Senate leaders today. The nominee, who has been a federal appeals court judge since 1998, is also slated to meet with top members of the Judiciary Committee, which will hold hearings on her nomination this summer.

The 10-page form is intended to reveal the details of Sotomayor's personal finances, legal work, professional associations, speeches, and legal and other writings, and it provides a baseline for questions that senators will pose during public hearings. White House officials said the document, which requires copious backup material, should be completed "in the next couple of days."

As Sotomayor prepared for her Senate rounds, Republican leaders signaled that they will resist President Obama's push to confirm her by Aug. 7, the start of the Senate's summer recess. Judiciary Chairman Patrick J. Leahy (D-Vt.) and Sen. Jeff Sessions (Ala.), the panel's ranking Republican, have begun informal talks about the committee's summer schedule, with the aim of striking an agreement to minimize any procedural delays before and after the nomination reaches the chamber floor. But senior Senate aides in both parties are skeptical that a deal to expedite Sotomayor's confirmation can be reached.

With Democrats holding 59 Senate seats, one short of the 60 needed to break a filibuster, and moderates in both parties already sending favorable signals about Sotomayor, Republican opponents are unlikely to find enough votes to block her confirmation. But they may be able to stall the process, pushing final floor action into September.