Judiciary Committee Republicans Promise Tough Questions for Sotomayor

Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee are planning to grill U.S. Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor about her view of the role of judges.

Republicans on the committee said they plan to question Sotomayor about her commitment to deciding cases based on the law rather than personal preferences, USA Today reports. "Today the Senate can't just be a rubber stamp for President Obama's nominees," said Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley.

Said Sen. Jeff Sessions of Alabama, the top Republican on the Judiciary Committee: "We must determine if Ms. Sotomayor understands that the proper role of a judge is to act as a neutral umpire of the law, calling balls and strikes fairly without regard to one's own personal preferences or political views."

The Associated Press published Sessions’ comment in a roundup of quotes on the nomination.

The Republican Party is weighing whether a fight against Sotomayor would alienate Hispanic voters, reports the The Caucus blog of the New York Times.

“If Republicans make a big deal of opposing Sotomayor, we will be hurling ourselves off a cliff,” Mark McKinnon, a senior adviser to President Bush, told the blog.