The U.S. Senate is expected to vote on President Barack Obama's nomination of federal Judge Sonia Sotomayor to the U.S. Supreme Court Thursday.
Senators Judd Gregg and Kit Bond became the latest Republicans on Wednesday to announce their intentions to vote for Sotomayor, increasing the number of Republican senators pledging to support her to at least nine.
With Democrats controlling the Senate with 60 votes, the 55-year-old Sotomayor is expected to easily become the first Hispanic justice and third woman to sit on the nation's highest court.
During the last two days of debate on Sotomayor's nomination, many Republicans charged the veteran judge would rule according her personal biases. But Democrats described her as an experienced, mainstream moderate judge.
The Senate Judiciary Committee voted 13-6 last week, largely along party lines, to send Sotomayor's nomination to the full Senate.
Some information for this report was provided by AP and Reuters.
