Roberts hearings over
on Sep 15, 2005 at 7:10 pm
“That concludes our hearing,” Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter declared at 7:10 p.m. Thursday. The adjournmen came after eight minutes of closing remarks by Specter and ranking Democrat Patrick Leahy.
In his closing remarks. Leahy said that “we have as strong a record as we’re going to have.” That was an indication that Democrats on the Committee had concluded that the Bush Administration will not provide additional documents those senators have sought, regarding Roberts’ service as deputy Solicitor General in the Justice Department.
Specter said that the leaders of the Committee had an agreement that the panel would meet one week from Thursday, on the 22d, to vote on the nomination of Judge John G. Roberts, Jr., to be Chief Justice. If, as expected, he wins Committee approval then, debate on the Senate floor probably will begin on Monday, Sept. 26, with a final vote targeted for later that week.
As of now, there is no expectation that President Bush will nominate someone for the seat of Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, the other vacancy on the Court, until after the Senate has completed action on Judge Roberts’ nomination. That means that Justice O’Connor will have to decide whether to participate in the Court’s pre-Term Conference on Sept. 26, when the Justices consider whether to grant new cases for review. She has said her retirement would become effective when her successor was confirmed.
