WASHINGTON — Judiciary Committee senators kept up partisan bickering this morning over whether Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor would render impartial justice as she stood on the cusp of a historic confirmation hearing.

"I think philosophically her statements indicate an approach to judging that is outside the mainstream," Sen. Jeff Sessions, senior Judiciary Committee Republican, said in a nationally broadcast interview. Appearing on another news show, Democrat Chuck Schumer declared: "She's not far left. She's not far right. She's mainstream."

The pair summed up what undoubtedly will be a central theme of confirmation hearings that were to be gaveled to order by 10 a.m. in the Hart Senate Office Building. Much of the initial time there will be consumed by speechmaking by members of the panel chaired by Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt.

There seems little argument Sotomayor has no serious roadblock, in practical terms, to becoming the first Hispanic and the third woman to serve on the high court. Democrats control the Judiciary panel by a 12-7 margin over Republicans and have the necessary floor votes to elevate the 55-year-old New York native.

Leahy planned to kick off the proceedings with laudatory remarks that also sought to firmly establish Sotomayor as a judge who follows wherever the law leads her.

Questioning of Sotomayor will wait for Tuesday.