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The Politico reports that Obama's first nominee to the Supreme Court will soon appear before the Senate for her confirmation hearings. From Politico:

Senate Judiciary Chairman Pat Leahy has forged ahead with a July 13 start date for confirmation hearings for Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor, pushing past Republicans who want more time to dig through her judicial and personal history.

"I'm really a bit surprised," said Sen. Jeff Sessions [the Judiciary Committee's ranking Republican]. "I don't think our side has the time to do this right. ... That's a rushed time frame, and I don't think that's necessary. I have serious doubts about [the time frame], but we're going to be working on it."

The quickly arriving date means that Republicans have a lot of work on their hands. Sotomayor ruled on 76 cases Republicans want to read through, in order to better gauge where Sotomayor stands on certain issues. One issue that remains up in the air, is Sotomayor's stance on abortion.

Because Sotomayor has never ruled on an abortion case that cites Roe v. Wade, her appearance before the Senate is critical to determine her philosophy regarding abortion’s role under the Constitution. The Susan B. Anthony List will be pushing Senators to ask the hard questions during her confirmation hearings.