Sotomayor's hearings to begin July 13

WASHINGTON — Senate Democrats, determined to seat Sonia Sotomayor on the Supreme Court quickly, announced mid-July hearings on her nomination Tuesday in a move that surprised and angered Republicans.

GOP leaders lashed out after Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., the Senate Judiciary Committee chairman, announced that he would convene the hearings on July 13 — considerably earlier than Republicans wanted — saying the date presents a "fair and adequate" schedule in line with the timeline for past Supreme Court nominees.

Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the Republican leader, called the Democrats' tactics "heavy-handed" and urged them to reconsider the schedule.

"Let me be clear. ... Because of what our Democratic colleagues are doing and the way they are doing it, it will now be much more difficult to achieve the kind of comity and cooperation on this and other matters that we need and expect around here," McConnell said.

President Barack Obama has urged the Senate to vote on confirming Sotomayor to the high court before it leaves for a congressional recess in August, but Republicans say they need more time to review her nearly 17-year record on the federal bench and that a September vote would provide plenty of time before the court term begins in October. Read the entire article.