Senate Judiciary Chair Arlen Specter (R-PA) and Ranking Minority Member Patrick Leahy (D-CT) announced yesterday the schedule planned to consider the nomination of Samuel Alito to the Supreme Court. The committee hearings are scheduled to begin on January 9, 2006, with a committee vote planned for January 17 and an expected full Senate vote on January 20. However, Senator Leahy did not commit to a vote on January 20, leaving open the possibility of a filibuster.
While President Bush had wanted the Senate to confirm Alito by the end of the year, Senator Specter said, “It simply wasn’t possible to accommodate the schedule the president wanted,” according to the Associated Press, because of Alito’s voluminous record and the upcoming holidays.
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