WASHINGTON, Jan. 26 (UPI) -- The ascension of Samuel Alito to the U.S. Supreme Court was all-but assured Thursday, with more than 50 U.S. senators saying they will support the nomination.
While debate on the Alito confirmation continued in the Senate, a running count by cable outlet C-SPAN late Thursday showed at least 54 senators supporting Alito, while 31 had said they would vote against the nomination.
Alito needs 51 votes to win confirmation.
The voting, although not scheduled, is expected to break almost directly along party lines. However, three Democrats -- Robert Byrd of West Virginia, Tim Johnson of South Dakota and Ben Nelson of Nebraska, have said they would vote for Alito.
President George Bush has asked that Alito be confirmed before his State of the Union address on Tuesday and Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., tentatively set a vote for 11 a.m. EST Tuesday.
Alito was nominated to replace Associate Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, who announced last July she wished to resign the court position she's held since 1981.
Those opposed to Alito joining the Supreme Court take issue with his previous viewpoints regarding personal rights, civil rights and separation of powers.
