Judge Sonia Sotomayor at the first day of her Senate confirmation hearings.
With Senator Al Franken of Minnesota presiding, he announced that “[t]he nomination of Sonia Sotomayor of New York . . . is confirmed.” She will be the 111th justice of the Supreme Court of the United States and the first Hispanic justice. She also will be the third woman and the first non-white, non-male justice.
The vote was 68 “aye” and 31 “nay,” with Senator Kennedy not voting but expressing his support for Sotomayor’s nomination. President Obama is due to make a statement live at 3:30 p.m. Watch here.
The cosmic combination of this vote on this nominee by this president with this senator presiding is almost too much. What an astounding day.
Jill Jackson reports that “Sotomayor will be sworn in this Saturday at 11am ET. Chief Justice John Roberts will administer the oath.”
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Chris Geidner is the award-winning senior political editor at D.C.'s Metro Weekly and has written for The Atlantic Online, The American Prospect, Advocate.com, Salon and other publications, as well as at his blog, Law Dork. In 2011, he received the Excellence in News Writing Award from the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association for his coverage of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" repeal. Prior to moving to D.C. in 2009, he served as an attorney on the senior staff at the Ohio Attorney General's Office and had earlier worked for a leading Columbus law firm. An extended biography can be found