Many Republicans portrayed her as a judicial activist intent on reinterpreting the law to conform with her own liberal political beliefs.

Democrat Patrick Leahy, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, helped close the debate by stressing the historic nature of the nomination.

'It is distinctively American to continually refine our union, moving us closer to our ideals. Our union is not yet perfected, but with this confirmation, we will be making progress,' Leahy said on the Senate floor.

But Republican Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell took aim at what he claimed was Sotomayor's inability to refrain from bringing her personal political opinions to bear on her rulings. Several Republicans, however, bucked party leadership by voting in favour of Sotomayor.

Underlying the debate over Sotomayor was the larger political question of whether the Republican Party risked alienating Hispanic voters by opposing the first Latina nominee. The party's share of the Hispanic vote dropped sharply in last year's presidential election.

(Arun Kumar can be contacted at arun.kumar@ians.in)