Sonia Sotomayor will start informal meetings with senators next week, White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said today.

She will meet Tuesday with Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., Senate Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., and Judiciary ranking member Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., Gibbs said. He added that a meeting with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., was also being set up. "We are hopeful other visits can be rescheduled for Tuesday and the rest of the week," Gibbs said. Obama has said he hopes Sotomayor is confirmed to replace retiring Justice David Souter before the Supreme Court reconvenes in early October.