WASHINGTON, Jan. 6 (UPI) -- U.S. Supreme Court nominee Samuel A. Alito Jr. has been warned to expect tough questioning at next week's confirmation hearing.
Senate Democrats also said they may postpone a final vote on Alito's confirmation until late January even though Senate Republican have penciled in a Jan. 17 vote on the nomination.
Alito's hearing before the Judiciary Committee is scheduled to begin Monday and is expected to last a week. But it could go on longer, The Washington Post said Friday.
Sen. Charles E. Schumer, D-N.Y., in a speech Thursday, said senators will ask extensive questions and insist that Alito answer them fully -- even if it means pushing the hearing into the following week.
Schumer said Alito has written extensively about executive and congressional powers, abortion and "the issue of personal autonomy."
"On at least these issues and perhaps many others," he said, "Judge Alito has more to answer for than any other Supreme Court nominee in memory."
Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., told reporters that Alito faces "a steep hill to climb."
