While accepting the near inevitability of Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor's confirmation before Aug. 7, Senate Republicans are using her nomination to assert broader leeway to oppose future Democratic nominees while continuing to take procedural steps to slow her progress.

Republicans today are expected to delay Sotomayor's Judiciary Committee confirmation vote by one week. And a top Senate Republican said Monday that the party might object to an up or down vote on Sotomayor if they are not given four days of floor time to discuss her nomination.

In a speech Monday announcing his opposition to Sotomayor, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., argued that Democratic opposition to GOP judicial nominees during the Bush administration has reduced the deference senators are obliged to give a president's judicial picks, freeing them to oppose nominees on philosophical, not just personal grounds.

"Deference is still an important principle," McConnell said. "But it was clearly eroded during ... the Bush administration."

Republican aides and senators said McConnell's speech, which echoes arguments he has made since November, is part of an effort to lay out a loosened standard for opposing judicial nominations. While Republicans cannot block Sotomayor, they are laying groundwork for future judicial fights.

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