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U.S. Supreme Court

Alito hearings won't begin until 2006, Senate leaders say

WASHINGTON - The Senate will begin hearings Jan. 9 on Judge Samuel Alito's appointment to the Supreme Court, leaders of the Judiciary Committee said Thursday in a bipartisan decision not to heed President Bush's call for a final confirmation vote before year's end.

"It simply wasn't possible to accommodate the schedule that the White House wanted," said Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee.

He outlined a timetable that would include five days of hearings, followed by a vote in committee on Jan. 17 and the full Senate on Jan. 20.

"It's far more important to do it right than fast," said Vermont Sen. Patrick Leahy, the senior Democrat on the panel. "In this case, I suspect we're doing both."

White House spokeswoman Dana Perino, who is traveling with President Bush in Argentina, said Thursday:

"We had hoped the hearings would be finished by the end of the year. However we have tremendous confidence in Sen. Specter who handled Chief Justice Roberts' confirmation process so well. We are encouraged by the bipartisan momentum that has set the vote on the Senate floor for Jan. 20.'

There was no evidence that the scheduling decision signaled any dissatisfaction with the nomination on the part of Republicans.

"I think Judge Alito has made a very good first impression," Specter said.

Bush nominated Alito on Monday to fill the seat of Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, who has often held the swing vote on cases involving controversial issues such as abortion and affirmative action.

Already, some Democrats have raised the possibility of a filibuster - an attempt to prevent final action on the nomination - and Leahy stopped short of committing to a vote in the full Senate on Jan. 20.

Specter said that "lurking below the surface is a concern for a filibuster" and said pushing the start of hearings to January "takes away a principal argument for those who would say the Senate is rushing."

The Pennsylvania Republican announced the date for hearings as Alito, a judge on the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, courted support from senators, using a room off the Senate floor as an impromptu office while lawmakers rotated through.

Most Republicans have supported Alito's nomination, and in making the appointment the president urged the Senate to vote this year.

Democrats, saying they wanted to review the voluminous record that Alito has compiled in 15 years as a judge, said they wanted to wait until the new year to start the hearings.

Since Monday, Alito has met with more than a dozen senators in courtesy calls, a time-honored process that involves having the nominee walk from one office to another.

[Last modified November 4, 2005, 01:42:07]