Legal Beat

Now that the big push for a pre-recess Senate vote on health care overhaul has collapsed, it looks like the Democratic majority is saving debate and a vote on the Supreme Court nomination of Sonia Sotomayor for the week leading up to the scheduled August recess.

The Senate Judiciary Committee is scheduled to vote on the nomination on July 28. But Democratic leaders won't bring the nomination to the floor right away. Instead, it looks like they want to make the vote on her confirmation the last major Senate action before the recess, scheduled to begin Aug. 7. The nomination would not hit the floor until the week of Aug. 3, said a Senate Democratic aide.

Meanwhile, Sotomayor is killing time meeting privately with some of the 11 senators she did not get to talk to before her confirmation hearing began July 13.