Grassley to oppose Sotomayor

The No. 2 Republican on the Judiciary Committee says he'll vote against Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor.

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Shareholders of drugmaker Wyeth have voted overwhelmingly to be acquired by Pfizer.

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Sotomayor wins GOP backers after smooth hearings

Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor won her first public pledges of support from Senate Republicans and one prominent GOP opponent, after a smooth performance at her confirmation hearings that has placed her firmly on track to become the high court's first Latina and the first Democratic-named justice in 15 years.

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Top Republican rips Democrats for Sotomayor 'rush'

Republicans accused Democrats Wednesday of moving too hastily on Sonia Sotomayor's Supreme Court nomination, warning that the decision could imperil her confirmation as they pressed the judge for more documents from her past.

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Specter gets subcommittee chair, primary challenge

Republican-turned-Democratic Sen. Arlen Specter gained a Judiciary subcommittee chairmanship but also a potential primary challenger Thursday, the latest twists in a turbulent episode of party switching.

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Mukasey Nomination Sent to Full Senate

The Judiciary Committee advanced Attorney General designate Michael Mukasey's nomination to the Senate floor Tuesday, virtually ensuring confirmation for a former judge ensnarled in bitter controversy over terrorism-era prisoner interrogations.

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White House Renews Gonzales Backing

Gonzales went to Capitol Hill on Thursday with just one mission: to placate Republican and Democratic senators dissatisfied with his account of how eight federal prosecutors were fired.

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Bad news today from the Judiciary Committee. At the beginning of the year, I had high hopes for the Patriot Act reauthorization process. We had just elected a President with a strong civil liberties record in the Senate.

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Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) accused the Republican Party of playing "racial politics" with the Supreme Court confirmation hearings of Sonia Sotomayor, even declaring that the leaders of the GOP had called her a "bigot" and the "head of the KKK."

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LEAHY SAID: "You said that, quote, you 'would hope that a wise Latina woman with the richness of her experiences would reach wise decisions.'"

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excerpt: ""Sonia Sotomayor still speaks with her elderly mom, who's retired in Florida, "every day." She's a "doting" aunt to three of her brother's children and an "attentive godmother to five more."

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Excerpt: ""To some Republican activists, an epic battle over Sonia Sotomayor is just the kind of jolt the Republican Party needs to get out of its doldrums.

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excerpt:b ""Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) and the supposedly tough job he has of reining in all those right wing lunatics who have been viciously attacking Sotomayor: As a member of the Judiciary Committee and the senator responsible for winning Republican Senate races next year,  …

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Already, Judge Sotomayor's unfitness for the high court is abundantly manifest.

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A sinister bill working its way through the House may eventually serve as a companion piece to the Department of Homeland Security's "Rightwing Extremist" report that labels veterans and advocates of the Second Amendment as dangerous terrorists — H.R.

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Judiciary Democrats Call for Special Counsel on Torture House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers, Jr.

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Today, Congressman Jerrold Nadler (NY-08), Chair of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Civil Liberties, Congressman John Conyers (MI-14), Chair of the House Judiciary Committee, and their Judiciary colleagues wrote to Attorney General Eric Hold …

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The legislative Judiciary Committee on Tuesday night approved legislation that would end criminal penalties for possession of small amounts of marijuana and create mail-in fines of $250. The bill was approved 23-11 after a two-hour debate and next moves to the state Senate.

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Both The Hill and Politico are reporting on a letter [PDF], signed by all forty-one Republicans in the Senate, sent to President Obama yesterday warning him that they will not hesitate to filibuster his judicial nominees if they are not consulted before he makes his picks:

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Governor Don Siegelman has learned that Karl Rove is in some sort of negotiation for immunity or exec priv before he testifies on Feb. 23. He is asking for people to flood Judiciary Chairman John Conyers with calls to make sure he "stays strong," no deal, no immunity.

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Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) is calling for a "truth commission" to look into alleged abuses inside the Justice Department during former President George W.

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A U.S. "truth commission" should probe Bush administration policies including the promotion of war in Iraq, detainee treatment and wiretapping without a warrant, an influential senator proposed on Monday.

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Do Specter, Cornyn, & Co. want to talk some more about Marc Rich? Elian Gonzales? No, apparently, Republicans are concerned that Holder might prosecute a certain group of people who violated federal laws.

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House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers sent a series of letters Wednesday to current and former White House and intelligence officials stating he is concerned the Bush administration may have violated federal law by allegedly ordering the CIA to create a bogus letter in  …

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Two senior senators urged Attorney General Michael Mukasey Monday to delay a change to FBI rules that critics say would weaken checks on the bureau's investigative powers.

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Now it is up to the public and the impeachment movement to call their bluff and take impeachment to the next level. Noting that even Rep.

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The House Judiciary Committee has voted 20-14 to approve a contempt of Congress resolution against former White House Deputy Chief of Staff Karl Rove for his failure to appear after a Congressional subpoena.

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As the House Judiciary Committee took up the question of how best to address what its chairman described as "the Imperial Presidency of George W.

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Post 9/11, [Jane Mayer] reports, "For the first time in its history, the United States sanctioned government officials to physically and psychologically torment U.S.-held detainees, making torture the official law of the land in all but name."

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Impeachment backers including anti-war protester Cindy Sheehan and Republican constitutional law scholar Bruce Fein held a press conference this afternoon in anticipation of tomorrow's House Judiciary Committee hearing on the "imperial presidency" of George W.

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Does anyone seriously doubt that one of the reasons why a House Judiciary Committee hearing will at least discuss the "I" word on Friday is Cindy Sheehan's independent challenge to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who, famously, took impeachment "off the table" just before t …

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This sounds like a dream, doesn't it? Well, it's not.

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