(CNN) — The Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday approved the nomination of federal Judge Sonia Sotomayor to become the nation’s first Hispanic Supreme Court justice, setting up a final confirmation vote by the Senate.
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The committee’s 13-6 vote was mostly on partisan lines, with one Republican joining the panel’s Democrats in sending the nomination to the full Senate.

At least five Republican senators have announced their intention to support Sotomayor, making confirmation by the Democratic-controlled Senate a virtual certainty