Barack Obama, Supreme Court

OBAMA FOR USA. On May 26, 2009, President Obama announced that he had decided to nominate the federal appeals judge Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court, choosing a daughter of Puerto Rican parents raised in Bronx public housing projects to become the nation's first Hispanic justice. She would replace Justice David H. Souter, who is retiring.

The selection of Judge Sotomayor is Mr. Obama's first for the Supreme Court and could trigger a struggle with Senate Republicans who have indicated they may oppose the nomination. But Democrats control nearly the 60 votes necessary to choke off a filibuster and even Republicans said they have little hope of blocking confirmation barring unforeseen revelation.

Judge Sotomayor, 54, who has served for more than a decade on the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals, based in New York City, would become the nation's 111th justice. Her appointment would add a second woman to the nine-member court and give Hispanics their first seat. Her life story, mirroring in some ways Mr. Obama's own, would fulfill the president's stated desire to add diversity of background to the nation's highest tribunal.

Mr. Obama's nomination of Judge Sotomayor is seen as helping him in his attempt to transform the capital's acrimonious culture. Notwithstanding fierce criticism from the likes of Rush Limbaugh and Newt Gingrich, there is scant evidence of solid opposition from Republican senators. Indeed, strategists on both sides say that one-third or more of the 40 Senate Republicans may vote to confirm her.

After consulting closely with the White House, Senate Democrats announced on June 9 that hearings on Judge Sotomayor's nomination to the Supreme Court would begin on July 13, infuriating Republicans who said that they had been blind-sided and that the timetable would recklessly short-circuit the review process.

But as Republican leaders went to the Senate floor yowling in protest, they seemed virtually powerless to slow the confirmation proceedings. And Democrats forcefully rebuffed the assertion that they were moving too fast, with detailed data showing the timeline consistent with other recent Supreme Court nominations.

The Democrats said the schedule put the Senate on track to confirm Judge Sotomayor before the August recess. At that point, on the Thursday before the break, 72 days will have elapsed since President Obama made public his choice of Judge Sotomayor, the same number of days it took to confirm Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr.

In July, after four days of hearings, with Republicans pressuring Judge Sotomayor on gun control, abortion and other issues, her confirmation to the Supreme Court seemed on track.