Alito hearings to begin second week of January

President Bush wanted a final confirmation vote this year.
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Republican-controlled Senate will begin hearings Jan. 9 on Judge Samuel Alito's appointment to the Supreme Court, leaders of the Judiciary Committee announced Thursday, a bipartisan repudiation of 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 envisions five days of hearings, followed by a vote in committee Jan. 17 and the full Senate on Jan. 20.
Doing it right
"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."
The White House had no immediate reaction.
There was no evidence that the scheduling decision signaled any deeper dissatisfaction with the nomination on the part of Republicans. "I think Judge Alito has made a very good first impression," said Specter.
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.
Concern of filibuster
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 that 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 in assembly-line fashion, using a room off the Senate floor as an impromptu office while lawmakers rotated through.
Conservatives eager to replace O'Connor and push the court to the right have swung behind Alito's nomination, and in making the appointment the president urged the Senate to vote this year.
Democrats, citing a need to review the voluminous record that Alito has compiled in 15 years as a judge, favored waiting until the new year to start the hearings. The 55-year-old judge has written an estimated 300 rulings and participated in roughly 1,500 cases.
Taking his shots
At the news conference, Leahy took several slaps at the White House for seeking to pressure lawmakers.
"We are grown-ups, and we know how to get this done," he said.
While there was no reaction from the White House, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist expressed satisfaction. "We look forward to leading off 2006 with an up or down vote to confirm Judge Alito to the Supreme Court," Eric Ueland, chief of staff for the Tennessee Republican, said in a statement.
Apart from the legal rulings to be reviewed, the National Archives issued a statement saying its staff would need several weeks to complete a search of Justice Department records for any material pertaining to Alito. The agency also is seeking documents at the Ronald Reagan and George Bush presidential libraries that might shed light on Alito's actions or views, the statement said.
Alito worked in both administrations and was a federal prosecutor in his home state of New Jersey before his confirmation as an appeals court judge.
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