WASHINGTON –Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito received an unanimous well-qualified rating from the American Bar Association on Wednesday, giving his nomination momentum as the Senate prepares for confirmation hearings next week.
The rating came after a vote of the ABA federal judiciary committee and was delivered in a letter to the Senate Judiciary Committee, which will launch Alito’s confirmation hearings on Monday. Alito will face almost an hour of questioning from each of the 18 senators on the committee.
“As a result of our investigation, the committee is of the unanimous opinion that Judge Samuel A. Alito, Jr. is well-qualified for appointment as associate justice of the United States Supreme Court,” said Stephen L. Tober, chairman of the ABA panel.
The ABA rating — the highest — is the same that Alito received back in 1990, when President Bush’s father, George H.W. Bush, nominated him to the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.