The US Senate opened its first Supreme Court confirmation hearing in 11 years this evening with Republicans and Democrats jockeying for position as they told chief justice nominee Judge John Roberts to expect tough questions on his legal record.
Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter, a Pennsylvania Republican, said his panel faces its "biggest challenge of the year and perhaps the decade."
The committee of 10 Republicans and eight Democrats will decide whether to recommend that the Senate confirm President George W. Bush's nomination of Judge Roberts to succeed the late William Rehnquist and become the nation's 17th chief justice.
In opening statements, senators lauded the credentials of Judge Roberts, who was to address the panel later in the day. A federal appeals court judge for the past two years, Judge Roberts served in the Republican administrations of President Ronald Reagan and the first President George Bush.
Democrats, citing documents stemming from Judge Roberts' work in government, challenged his commitment to civil rights and women's rights.
"Judge, if I looked only at what you've said and written in the past, I'd feel compelled to vote no," said Senator Joseph Biden, a Delaware Democrat.
"You dismissed the Constitution's protection of privacy as a 'so-called right,' you derided agencies like the Securities and Exchange Commission that combat corporate misconduct as
'constitutional anomalies,' and you dismissed 'gender discrimination' as merely a, and I quote, 'perceived problem.'"
"This is your chance to explain what you meant," Mr Biden said. Senator Lindsey Graham, a South Carolina Republican, replied, telling Judge Roberts: "The memos you wrote while you were working for President Reagan and Bush [the first], in my opinion, reflect a conservative lawyer advising a conservative president about conservative policies."