Boycott Over Sotomayor Hearings?

The Senate seems set to make good on President Obama’s wish to see Sonia Sotomayor’s Supreme Court nomination move quickly: Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy set a July 13 start date for the hearings without consulting fellow Republicans on the move. Republicans are furious and threatening to slow the hearings so they can have more time to comb through Sotomayor’s history, and some are threatening to boycott the hearings altogether. Obama had urged the Senate to vote on Sotomayor before Congress’ August recess. Leahy said July 13 presents a “reasonable schedule” that would give senators several more weeks to prepare, and argues that Justice Roberts took only 72 days to be confirmed.