Courts
From NBC's Pete Williams
Though Sonia Sotomayor was confirmed today by the Senate to become the next Supreme Court justice, she is technically not yet "Justice" Sotomayor. She won't be until she takes both the federal oath and the judicial oath on Saturday.
A White House official says Sonia Sotomayor will stay out of public view today. She's at her chambers at the federal courthouse in New York.
Video: Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn., officially announces that Sonia Sotomayor has been confirmed to the U.S. Supreme Court in the Senate.
She'll be sworn in on Saturday at the Supreme Court by
Chief Justice Roberts. (That event will be available for TV pool coverage, which will be a first for the court.)
Justice Sotomayor will be the court's second-youngest member, at age 55. Only Roberts, who turned 54 in January, is younger.
*** UPDATE *** Here's what the Supreme Court now says about the swearing in:
CONTINUED >>
From NBC's Mark Murray
The Senate confirmed Sonia Sotomayor
to the Supreme Court by a 68-31 vote.
West Virginia Sen.
Robert Byrd (D)
was able to vote, and her voted for her.
Sotomayor's 68 votes were greater than Samuel Alito received (58) but less than what John Roberts got (78).
From NBC's Kelly O'Donnell and Mark Murray
Ohio Republican George Voinovich
says he will vote for Sonia Sotomayor, becoming the ninth GOP senator to signal support for the Supreme Court nominee.
Voinovich, of course, isn't running for re-election next year. And this means that four of the six retiring Republican senators are voting for Sotomayor. (Note: Earlier today, we said that Voinovich voting for her would make it four of five, but we forgot Sam Brownback's retirement.)
Video: The Wall Street Journal's Peggy Noonan and Msnbc's Joe Scarborough discuss why the Republicans' decision to aggressively vote against Sonia Sotomayor is short-sighted and ill-timed.
To put it another way, about half of the Republicans voting for her are retiring....
*** UPDATE *** Here's Voinovich's statement: "Judge Sotomayor is not the nominee I would have selected if I were president, but making a nomination is not my role here today. My role is to examine her qualifications to determine if she is fit to serve... I believe the factors to be examined in determining whether a Supreme Court nominee is qualified include her education, prior legal and judicial experience, judicial temperament, and commitment to the rule of law. Based on my review of her record, and using these factors, I have determined that Judge Sotomayor meets the criteria to become a Justice on the Supreme Court."
From NBC's Domenico Montanaro
As Hotline reports, Sen. Kit Bond
, who was previously undeclared, announced during the second hour of floor debate today that he would be supporting Sonia Sotomayor for the U.S. Supreme Court.
The retiring Bond becomes seventh Republican to come out in favor of Sotomayor. The others: Mel Martinez (FL, also retiring), Lamar Alexander (TN), Susan Collins (ME), Olympia Snowe (ME), Lindsey Graham (SC), and Richard Lugar (IN).
Hotline notes that the others to watch as possible GOP crossovers: Murkowski, Voinovich, Gregg. Murkowski is set to speak tonight at 7:30.
Sotomayor, at this point, seems on track for 65 votes, subtracting out Kennedy and Byrd, who will likely not vote.
Bond, Hotline notes, said "he will support Sotomayor because he 'rejects' Pres. Obama's standard when he was in the Senate and opposed CJ John Roberts and Justice Samuel Alito."
*** UPDATE *** Per NBC's Ken Strickland, Bond said at the end of his speech:
"The Senate has reviewed her nomination and has asked her its questions. There's been no significant finding against her. There's been no public uprising against her. I do not believe that the constitution tells me that I should refuse to support her merely because I disagree with her on some cases. I will support her; i'll be proud for her, the community she represents, and the American Dream she shows is possible. I will cast my vote in favor of the nomination of Judge Sotomayor, and I urge my colleagues to do the same."
Senate debate begins today on Sonia Sotomayor’s Supreme Court nomination, the L.A. Times writes. “[W]ith the outcome assured, the only remaining questions are whether the National Rifle Assn. can claim to have swayed votes against her and whether President Obama can claim a victory for bipartisanship.”
The AP adds, "Republicans have lined up almost solidly against President Barack Obama's nominee, taking what strategists in both parties call a steep political risk in opposing Sotomayor, although a handful of GOP senators are siding with Democrats to support her.”
Video: Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, previews the Senate vote on the appointment of Supreme Court nominee Judge Sonia Sotomayor.
According to
Roll Call, "Anyone looking for high drama or a nail-biter of a vote will likely be disappointed, as the outcome is all but guaranteed." Kennedy and Byrd are not expected to vote Thursday on her confirmation, which leaves 58 Democrats for her. And six Republicans for her (Graham, Alexander, Lugar, Snowe, Collins, Martinez). That would give 64 votes. The paper wonders if the Alaska senators might go the opposite way of their respective parties. "[T]he only major question marks on the final tally come from Alaska Sens. Lisa Murkowski (R) and Mark Begich (D). Murkowski, vice chairwoman of the Republican Policy Committee, has often charted an independent course from her party, and she could join Alexander as the only members of the GOP hierarchy to back Sotomayor’s nomination. Begich, meanwhile, is one of a handful of Democratic moderates whom conservatives and the National Rifle Association have targeted as possible converts in the waning days of the confirmation process."
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From NBC's Kelly O'Donnell and Domenico Montanaro
Arizona Sen. John McCain
said today he will vote against Sonia Sotomayor, President Obama's pick to be the next U.S. Supreme Court Justice.
McCain's no vote is interesting because he holds the view that "elections have consequences" meaning a president should get his nominee approved if qualified.
McCain voted for Bill Clinton nominee Ruth Bader Ginsberg, for example.
McCain is also up for re-election next year, and not only does Arizona have a large Hispanic population, McCain also has a primary -- against Chris Simcox, one of the founders of the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps, an anti-illegal immigrant activist group.
"There is no doubt that Judge Sotomayor has the professional background and qualifications that one hopes for in a Supreme Court nominee," McCain said in a statement today on the floor of the U.S. Senate. He added, "And obviously, Judge Sotomayor's life story is inspiring and compelling."
But, "an excellent resume and an inspiring life story are not enough to qualify one for a lifetime of service on the Supreme Court," McCain said. He cited, as have other Republicans Miguel Estrada, a Hispanic who was nominated by President Bush for the DC Circuit Court but blocked by Democrats. He added that he does "not believe that she [Sotomayor] shares my belief in judicial restraint." And: "Though she attempted to walk back from her long public record of judicial activism during her confirmation hearings, Judge Sotomayor cannot change her record."
Video:
Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, previews the Senate vote on the appointment of Supreme Court nominee Judge Sonia Sotomayor later this week. Here's McCain's full statement, made on the floor of the U.S. Senate:
CONTINUED >>
From NBC's Mark Murray
Earlier today, we clipped a piece from The Hill that quoted Senate Finance Committee Max Baucus (D) -- whose work on health care so far has frustrated some liberal Democrats -- saying he had "no idea" whether he'll vote for Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor.
“I haven’t paid any attention and I haven’t announced," he told the Capitol Hill publication. "I’ve been so busy with health care. It’s under consideration. I’ll certainly know when I vote, but right now I can’t tell you.”
Well, he's now telling us -- he's voting for her.
"I have long said that to be a Supreme Court Justice a person must meet three main criteria: personal integrity, professional competence, and a view of important issues that is within the mainstream of contemporary judicial thought," Baucus said in a statement. "After personally meeting Judge Sotomayor, thoroughly analyzing her judicial record, and reviewing her nomination hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee, Judge Sotomayor unquestionably meets each of these criteria. Thus, I am proud to support her nomination and will vote to confirm her as a Justice to the United States Supreme Court.”
So Max Baucus
says he has "no idea" how he'll vote on Sotomayor? This comes after liberals have been frustrated by his work on health care. “I have no idea,” Baucus said, per The Hill. “I haven’t paid any attention and I haven’t announced… I’ve been so busy with healthcare. It’s under consideration. I’ll certainly know when I vote, but right now I can’t tell you.”
By the way,
The Hill points out: "Baucus had an A rating from the NRA in 2008, as did two other Senate Democrats who ran last year: Tim Johnson of South Dakota and Mark Warner of Virginia." Johnson, Warner and Montana Democrat Jon Tester have said they both intend to support Sotomayor. And even Republican Lamar Alexander said yesterday he'd support her -- despite his A rating from the NRA. The National Rifle Association, which opposes Sotomayor, has vowed to make the vote part of its ratings system this year.
Debate on her confirmation may begin Tuesday,
Roll Call reports.
From NBC's Ken Strickland and Domenico Montanaro
As expected, the Senate Judiciary Committee this morning voted 13-6 in favor of Sonia Sotomayor's nomination to the U.S. Supreme Court. It was a mostly party-line vote, except for Sen. Lindsey Graham, of South Carolina, who voted to confirm.
Video: By a vote of 13 to 6, including GOP Senator Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, the Senate Judiciary Committee votes in favor of Sonia Sotomayor's nomination for the Supreme Court.
As we noted in
First Thoughts this morning, "By comparison, John Roberts' Judiciary vote was 13-5, and Samuel Alito's was 10-8."
Sotomayor is on track to be confirmed by the full Senate by Aug. 7. If the committee vote is any indication, Sotomayor's full Senate vote is likely to be somewhere between that of Alito and Roberts. With a slim Republican majority in 2006, Alito was confirmed 58-42. (Just four Democrats voted for him.) In 2005, Roberts was confirmed by a much wider margin, 78-22, with Democrats about split.
From NBC's Mark Murray
Hardly a surprise, but Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions
, ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, says in a USA Today op-ed that he will vote against Sonia Sotomayor's nomination in tomorrow's committee vote.
"I don't believe that Judge Sotomayor has the deep-rooted convictions necessary to resist the siren call of judicial activism," he writes. "She has evoked its mantra too often. As someone who cares deeply about our great heritage of law, I must withhold my consent."
