Sotomayor Confirmation Hearings set for July 13

by: Matt

Tue Jun 09, 2009 at 13:31:38 PM EDT

As noted in the Quick Hits, hearings for Judge Sonia Sotomayor will be held starting July 13. This is big win for the Democrats, as the GOP wanted to delay as long as possible in the hope that a smoking gun would be found:

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Pat Leahy today indicated that he was tired of Republican attacks on Sotomayor, arguing that it took John Roberts only 72 days to be confirmed from the time he was nominated and that Sotomayor was on a similar timeline.

"There is no reason to unduly delay consideration of this well-qualified nominee,” Leahy said. “Indeed, given the attacks on her character, there are compelling reasons to proceed even ahead of this schedule. She deserves the earliest opportunity to respond to those attacks.” -Politico

And the move was made by Leahy without consulting with Judiciary Committee ranking Republican Sen. Jeff Sessions of Alabama. It's about time Senate Democrats exerted a little unilateral decision making.