The Senate Judiciary Committee votes along party lines to approve President Bush's nomination of Judge Samuel Alito to the U.S. Supreme Court. All 10 Republicans on the panel voted to approve the Alito nomination, and all eight Democrats voted against it.
The Republicans said Alito is superbly qualified, that seven of the judges who have sat with him on the federal appeals court during the last 15 years gave unprecedented testimony to his fairness and decency.
But Democrats said Alito's record in the Reagan Justice Department, on the bench and his testimony, convinced them that in replacing the moderate Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, he would tip the balance of the court to the far right.
The nomination now moves to the Senate floor, where a vote could come as early as Friday.
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