Senate confirmation hearings – News Stories About Senate confirmation hearings - Page 3

Jan 31, 2013 2:13 PM CST

McCain, Hagel Spar Over Iraq

Defense nominee says he's still not sure the surge was worth it

(Newser) - Chuck Hagel got into a testy verbal sparring match with John McCain at his Armed Services Committee hearing today, with McCain demanding that Hagel admit he was wrong when he warned against the "surge" in Iraq. Hagel tried to prevaricate: "I would defer to the judgment of history,...

Chuck Hagel
Hearing: What
He'll Face

Jan 31, 2013 7:47 AM CST

Chuck Hagel Hearing: What He'll Face

Unprecedented opposition campaign could make for an interesting vote

(Newser) - Chuck Hagel heads to Capitol Hill for his confirmation hearing today, and one thing we can say with confidence: It won't be a John Kerry-esque cakewalk . Hagel's facing skepticism and outright opposition from both sides of the aisle over past stances, particularly on Israel and nuclear proliferation. But...

Senate Committee
Approves Kerry
for State Gig

Jan 29, 2013 9:45 AM CST

Senate Committee Approves Kerry for State Gig

He'll go before the full Senate later today

(Newser) - The Senate Foreign Relations Committee surprised exactly no one today by putting its seal of approval on John Kerry's nomination for secretary of State nomination. It would have been quite the upset if Kerry hadn't gotten the committee's approval, given that he has sat on it for...

President Obama Names Elizabeth Warren to Set Up New Consumer Financial Protection Bureau

Obama: Warren Will Fight
for Middle Class

Sep 17, 2010 1:54 PM CDT

Obama: Warren Will Fight for Middle Class

President taps adviser to set up consumer protection agency

(Newser) - President Obama named Wall Street critic Elizabeth Warren a special adviser today and tasked her with setting up a new agency to look out for consumers. Calling Warren "one of the country's fiercest advocates for the middle class," Obama said the new bureau would end abusive practices. "...

Republicans Bash Thurgood Marshall

Jun 29, 2010 6:08 AM CDT

Republicans Bash Thurgood Marshall

Elena Kagan is suspect for link to notorious 'activist judge'

(Newser) - Republicans played the guilt-by-association game at Elena Kagan’s confirmation hearing yesterday, slamming the Supreme Court nominee for her ties to… Thurgood Marshall? The revered justice’s name came up 35 times during the first day of the hearing, compared to just 14 for President Obama, the Huffington Post reports,...

Senate Confirms 27
Obama Nominees

prez makes threat then...

Feb 12, 2010 7:01 AM CST

Senate Confirms 27 Obama Nominees

Critics accuse GOP of 'blinking'

(Newser) - Twenty-seven Obama nominees were confirmed last night following a tense exchange between the president and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell. Critics accused McConnell and the GOP of "blinking" in the face of the president's threat to make recess appointments over the President's Day break. Republicans denied the claim, saying...

Enough Already:
Kennedy Was No Hero

OPINION

Aug 27, 2009 11:56 AM CDT

Enough Already: Kennedy Was No Hero

(Newser) - You wouldn’t know it from the tearful plaudits in the "echo chamber of the mainstream media," but Ted Kennedy was no hero, Howie Carr writes for the Boston Herald. Kennedy was actually a ruthless partisan—he accused Supreme Court nominee Robert Bork of wanting "segregated lunch...

Supreme Newbie
Faces Steep Learning Curve

Aug 7, 2009 6:57 AM CDT

Supreme Newbie Faces Steep Learning Curve

(Newser) - Justices past and present say no amount of experience can prepare someone for the role Sonia Sotomayor is walking into, the New York Times reports. "I was frightened to death for the first three years," Justice Bremer, who joined the court in 1994, once admitted. As the...

Senate Confirms Sotomayor

Aug 6, 2009 2:36 PM CDT

Senate Confirms Sotomayor

(Newser) - The Senate confirmed Sonia Sotomayor today as the first Hispanic justice on the Supreme Court. The vote was 68-31 for Sotomayor, President Barack Obama's first high court nominee. She becomes the 111th justice and just the third woman to serve. Democrats praised the 55-year-old Sotomayor as a mainstream moderate. But...

McCain Will Vote
Against Sotomayor

Aug 3, 2009 3:57 PM CDT

McCain Will Vote Against Sotomayor

Senator unable to support a 'judicial activist'

(Newser) - John McCain says he'll oppose Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor when the Senate votes on her confirmation this week. Despite Sotomayor's efforts to distance herself from her record, the Arizona Republican said today, Sotomayor is a judicial activist who has used her position as a judge to try to change...

GOP Looks
Tacky in Vote
on Sotomayor

OPINION

Jul 29, 2009 8:56 AM CDT

GOP Looks Tacky in Vote on Sotomayor

(Newser) - Senate Republicans locked arms against Sonia Sotomayor yesterday … or would have, if they’d bothered to stay for the Judiciary Committee’s vote. Instead, half ducked out, leaving Jeff Sessions to repeat “No by proxy,” over and over, writes Dana Milbank in the Washington Post. It was...

Judiciary Committee
Approves Sotomayor

Jul 28, 2009 11:09 AM CDT

Judiciary Committee Approves Sotomayor

(Newser) - The Senate Judiciary Committee has voted to approve Sonia Sotomayor to be the first Hispanic justice on the Supreme Court. The committee voted 13-6 this morning to send Sotomayor's nomination to the full Senate, where she's expected to be confirmed easily next week. Just one Republican, South Carolina's Lindsey Graham,...

Graham Blasts GOP's 'Blind Ideology'

Interview

Jul 24, 2009 9:33 AM CDT

Graham Blasts GOP's 'Blind Ideology'

Republican embraces bipartisanship on Sotomayor nomination

(Newser) - Lindsey Graham’s been on the Republican hot seat since throwing his support behind Sonia Sotomayor, but he doesn’t think much of the purity police attacking him. “I have no desire to be up here in an irrelevant status,” the senior senator from South Carolina tells Politico....

GOP Delays
Sotomayor
Vote

Jul 21, 2009 10:55 AM CDT

GOP Delays Sotomayor Vote

(Newser) - The Senate Judiciary Committee today put off its vote on Sonia Sotomayor's Supreme Court nomination for one week, to July 28, after Republicans asked for a delay. Chairman Patrick Leahy says he is disappointed the Republicans held up the committee's action, but predicts Sotomayor will join the Supreme Court in...

These Hearings Are All About the Next Nominee

analysis

Jul 15, 2009 9:52 PM CDT

These Hearings Are All About the Next Nominee

(Newser) - Three days, no bombshells: Sonia Sotomayor is a done deal for the Supreme Court. The humdrum proceedings still have value, however, write Peter Baker and Charlie Savage in the New York Times. It's all about the next nominee, and that could be a much bigger fight. If nothing else, Republicans...

Sotomayor's
Inspiration?
Perry Mason

CONFIRMATION HEARINGS

Jul 15, 2009 2:56 PM CDT

Sotomayor's Inspiration? Perry Mason

(Newser) - Sonia Sotomayor’s zeal for the law comes from the tube, the Los Angeles Times reports. The former prosecutor credits for her conversion a Perry Mason episode where the titular defense attorney “proved his client innocent and got the actual murderer to confess,” the Supreme Court nominee told...

Firefighters
Drop In on
Sotomayor

CONFIRMATION HEARINGS

Jul 15, 2009 10:36 AM CDT

Firefighters Drop In on Sotomayor

(Newser) - The New Haven Fire Department arrived in uniform on Capitol Hill today to watch the third day of Sonia Sotomayor’s confirmation hearings, the New York Times reports. So far talk has swirled around abortion, with Sotomayor refuting reports that the Obama administration had given her a “litmus test”...

Sotomayor Puts
Personality on Display

Jul 14, 2009 7:45 PM CDT

Sotomayor Puts Personality on Display

(Newser) - Say what you will about Sonia Sotomayor, the woman has a great laugh. Her second day of testimony brought the nominee's personality into clearer focus, writes Ann Gerhart in the Washington Post. In addition to a sense of humor, exemplified in that "big, full-throated laugh," we learned she's...

Sotomayor's Rope-A-Dope Strategy Looks Familiar

ANALYSIS

Jul 14, 2009 3:00 PM CDT

Sotomayor's Rope-A-Dope Strategy Looks Familiar

Nominee gives little insight into her true feelings on controversial issues

(Newser) - As Sonia Sotomayor’s question-and-answer session with the Senate Judiciary Committee continues today, the Supreme Court nominee is deploying a familiar strategy, Andrew Cohen writes for CBS News. It's the Rope-a-Dope, much like the one used by Ruth Bader Ginsburg, John Roberts, and Samuel Alito in their confirmation hearings. Simply...

Sotomayor:
Roe v. Wade
Is 'Settled Law'

Confirmation hearings

Jul 14, 2009 12:11 PM CDT

Sotomayor: Roe v. Wade Is 'Settled Law'

(Newser) - Questioning is under way on Day 2 of Sonia Sotomayor's confirmation hearings, and there has already been much talk of New Haven firefighters and wise Latina women. Asked about that infamous quote early on, Sotomayor replied, “I want to state upfront, unequivocally… I do not believe that any racial...