[JURIST] US Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY) [official website], a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee [official website], has said that while Democrats on the committee are considering delaying a vote on Samuel Alito's confirmation [JURIST report] to the US Supreme Court, a final decision has not yet been made. Senate leadership aides said Thursday that Democrats would invoke their right to delay the committee's vote to approve the nomination. The Judiciary Committee is set to begin confirmation hearings [JURIST report] Monday, and committee chairman Sen. Arlen Specter (R-PA) had hoped to hold the committee vote on January 17. A vote in the full Senate would then follow on January 20. Schumer said that Democrats will wait to see how the confirmation hearing goes before deciding whether to allow Republicans to accelerate the vote. AP has more.

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