Monday
Jul132009
Senate Begins Grilling Of Sonia Sotomayor
Monday, July 13, 2009 at 4:24PM
Republican senators today began their attacks on Judge Sonia Sotomayor, nominated to replace Justice David Souter on the U.S. Supreme Court. On the first day of hearings before the Senate Judiciary Committee, Democratic senators praised Sotomayor’s record, saying it demonstrated “judicial modesty,” while Republicans expressed skepticism.
Senator Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.), now the ranking Republican on the committee, called Sotomayor’s comments on use of experience and background in judicial decisions “shocking and offensive” and distributed a thick stack of her past speeches to the media. The speeches were marked up to highlight passages where Sotomayor spoke about the differences her background would produce in her decisions. Sessions criticized the use of any factors outside of the facts and law of a case in making rulings.
Senators Sessions and John Cornyn (R-Texas) both said they planned to ask Sotomayor about her views on a range of issues, including abortion, property rights, the right to bear arms, and capital punishment. Senator Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) as well said he was “deeply concerned by [Sotomayor]’s assertion that the law is uncertain.”
Speaking more generally, Senators Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) criticized President Obama’s “empathy” standard used to select Sotomayor as his nominee. Graham went so far as to say that he would have to vote against Sotomayor under that standard, which he called “absurd” and “dangerous,” since it would encourage voting on the basis of agreement on issues and would therefore discourage potential nominees from expressing their opinions. He did, however, worry about Sotomayor’s speeches made while she has been a sitting judge, since those might cast doubt on her objectivity when deciding cases. Graham did recognize that “unless [Sotomayor has] a complete meltdown,” she would be confirmed, bringing laughter from audience.
Democrats generally supported the nominee by describing her record as centrist and reserved, and repeating her personal story of being raised by a poor, single mother and working to raise herself up to a federal judgeship. By the time it was Sotomayor’s chance to speak, the audience had heard the story several times.
A couple of Democrats took the opportunity to criticize the previous administration. Senator Specter (D-Pa.), a recent defector from the Republican party, spoke of President Bush’s wiretapping program, saying that a split among circuit courts in different areas of the country has prevented adjudication of the legality of those programs. He expressed hope that a new Supreme Court would resolve this disagreement and generally agree to hear more cases. Senator Feingold (D-Wisc.) lauded the Supreme Court’s role as a check on the president, offering as examples the Court’s rulings that Guantanamo detainees have rights to U.S. courts, and saying that an important quality in justices is a willingness to stand up to the president.
In Sotomayor’s short opening statement, she said that her judicial philosophy was simple: “fidelity to the law.” She said that her record would show that she applies the law according to Congress’s intent, applying relevant precedents. She finished by saying she looks forward to answering the senators’ questions.
Senator Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.), now the ranking Republican on the committee, called Sotomayor’s comments on use of experience and background in judicial decisions “shocking and offensive” and distributed a thick stack of her past speeches to the media. The speeches were marked up to highlight passages where Sotomayor spoke about the differences her background would produce in her decisions. Sessions criticized the use of any factors outside of the facts and law of a case in making rulings.
Senators Sessions and John Cornyn (R-Texas) both said they planned to ask Sotomayor about her views on a range of issues, including abortion, property rights, the right to bear arms, and capital punishment. Senator Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) as well said he was “deeply concerned by [Sotomayor]’s assertion that the law is uncertain.”
Speaking more generally, Senators Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) criticized President Obama’s “empathy” standard used to select Sotomayor as his nominee. Graham went so far as to say that he would have to vote against Sotomayor under that standard, which he called “absurd” and “dangerous,” since it would encourage voting on the basis of agreement on issues and would therefore discourage potential nominees from expressing their opinions. He did, however, worry about Sotomayor’s speeches made while she has been a sitting judge, since those might cast doubt on her objectivity when deciding cases. Graham did recognize that “unless [Sotomayor has] a complete meltdown,” she would be confirmed, bringing laughter from audience.
Democrats generally supported the nominee by describing her record as centrist and reserved, and repeating her personal story of being raised by a poor, single mother and working to raise herself up to a federal judgeship. By the time it was Sotomayor’s chance to speak, the audience had heard the story several times.
A couple of Democrats took the opportunity to criticize the previous administration. Senator Specter (D-Pa.), a recent defector from the Republican party, spoke of President Bush’s wiretapping program, saying that a split among circuit courts in different areas of the country has prevented adjudication of the legality of those programs. He expressed hope that a new Supreme Court would resolve this disagreement and generally agree to hear more cases. Senator Feingold (D-Wisc.) lauded the Supreme Court’s role as a check on the president, offering as examples the Court’s rulings that Guantanamo detainees have rights to U.S. courts, and saying that an important quality in justices is a willingness to stand up to the president.
In Sotomayor’s short opening statement, she said that her judicial philosophy was simple: “fidelity to the law.” She said that her record would show that she applies the law according to Congress’s intent, applying relevant precedents. She finished by saying she looks forward to answering the senators’ questions.
Obama Senses Victory After Senate Passes Key Vote On Financial Reform
Though two Democrats, Sens. Russ Feingold (Wisc.) and Maria Cantwell (Wash.), broke with their party and voted no to ending debate for a second straight day, three Republicans, Sens. Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins of Maine, and Sen. Scott Brown (Mass.) voted yes, giving 57 Democrats the minimum number of votes they needed to block a filibuster.
Addressing reporters in the White House Rose Garden following the vote, the President praised the Senate for moving the bill forward, but cautioned against celebrating prematurely.
“We’ve still got some work to do,” he said, reminding supporters that the Senate still must pass its bill before it moves to conference. “There’s no doubt that during that time, the financial industry and their lobbyists will keep on fighting.”
But so will the administration. Four weeks ago, Mr. Obama memorably went to Wall Street to make the case for reform. Since then, the President and his financial reform team have hit the road in an attempt to sell the public on the plan. And earlier this week, the President was successfully able to convince Senator Brown to break with Republicans and change his vote, from no to yes.
As a result, the White House feels confident that they’ve won Round One of the battle.
“Over the last year, the financial industry has repeatedly tried to end this reform with hordes of lobbyists and millions of dollars of ads,” said the President. “Today, I think it’s fair to say that these efforts have failed.”