< Back to front page Text size – +

Sessions will oppose Sotomayor

E-mail|Link|Comments () Posted by Foon Rhee, deputy national political editor July 27, 2009 04:29 PM

On the eve of the Senate Judiciary Committee's vote on Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor, the panel's senior Republican let it be known today he will vote against her.

Senator Jeff Sessions of Alabama, one of Sotomayor's most skeptical questioners during her confirmation hearings earlier this month, said in an op-ed published online in USA Today that he believes her record shows her to be a judicial activist.

He is the latest conservative Republican to come out against Sotomayor, who is almost certain to be confirmed with the backing of some moderate Republicans and expected unanimous support from Democrats.

"I don't believe that Judge Sotomayor has the deep-rooted convictions necessary to resist the siren call of judicial activism," he wrote. "She has evoked its mantra too often. As someone who cares deeply about our great heritage of law, I must withhold my consent."

Click here to read the full piece.

UPDATE: The No. 2 Republican on the committee, Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa, also said today that he'll vote against Sotomayor.

Grassley says Sotomayor didn't convince him she'd be able to set aside personal biases and prejudices to decide cases impartially, and also says he still feels burned by his support for Justice David Souter, whom Sotomayor would replace if confirmed and who turned out to be more liberal than former President George H.W. Bush expected, according to the Associated Press.

» Back to front page

About Political Intelligence

Reports from Boston Globe reporters and editors about the Obama administration, the Massachusetts congressional delegation, and other national political happenings.

see all Globe blogs

Globe Political on Twitter

Loading from twitter...

Follow GlobePolitical on Twitter

News from the Washington Bureau

Tax break on profits again in jeopardy

An effort in Congress to eliminate a generous tax break for hedge fund managers, private-equity specialists, and venture capitalists, which could be taken up next week in the House Ways and Means Committee, is being met with resistance by opponents who say the move would weaken the economy. (Globe Staff, 11/26/09)

In N.E. governors’ races, GOP sees a chance to build on gains

Invigorated by state house victories earlier this month in Virginia and New Jersey, Republicans are turning their attention to governorships in New England, where they believe the retirement of four incumbents and a competitive race in Massachusetts has created wide-open opportunities. (Globe Correspondent, 11/25/09)

Senators voice optimism on public option

WASHINGTON - Buoyed by their weekend victory on a vote beginning the health care debate, several Senate Democrats expressed optimism yesterday they could find a way to keep a government-run insurance plan in the sweeping bill. (Globe Staff, 11/23/09)

Health overhaul narrowly advances

The Senate narrowly overcame the first of two critical hurdles to passing sweeping health care legislation last night, mustering the minimum of 60 votes required to begin debate on the bill and opening a volatile floor fight likely to last weeks. (Globe Staff 11/22/09)

Some lawmakers push back Catholic church on health care bill

Representative Louise Slaughter has a consistent record advocating abortion rights. So the New York Democrat was stunned recently to receive, for the first time, a letter from a Catholic diocese in western New York, demanding that she explain her vote this month against a health care amendment prohibiting insurance companies from paying for abortions. (Globe Staff, 11/21/09)

Latinos, blacks take harder hit amid recession

Latinos and African-Americans in Massachusetts and across the country are facing high unemployment rates that could spiral to levels not seen in decades as the jobless economic recovery drags on, analysts and urban community advocates say. (Globe Staff, 11/21/09)

Support wanes for curbs on credit-card interest rates

Efforts in Congress to cap credit-card interest rates are faltering because of opposition from Democrats and a lack of specific support from the White House, despite growing consumer outrage over a rush by banks to impose rates as high as 30 percent. (Globe Staff, 11/19/09)

Obama domestic agenda largely a one-party effort

Despite early pleas for bipartisanship, President Obama is forging ahead with his domestic agenda with a largely single-party strategy, unable to corral more than a handful of Republicans on a wide range of major legislation before Congress. (Globe Staff, 11/17/09)

Beirut attack victims’ families face new hurdle

On Veterans Day, Christine Devlin stood in the cold in Westwood for the unveiling of a new memorial to local soldiers lost overseas, including her son Michael, one of the 241 servicemen killed in the bombing of the US Marine barracks in Lebanon in 1983. (Globe Staff, 11/14/09)

FHA runs low on cash, fueling bailout concerns

The Federal Housing Administration, which propped up the collapsing housing market last year, acknowledged yesterday that it has drained its cash reserves to dangerously low levels, heightening concerns that it might need a taxpayer bailout. (Globe Staff, 11/13/09)