Senate GOP Leader Compares Confirmation Schedule for Sotomayor to Guantanamo Closure Plan

WASHINGTON -- Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell likened the confirmation hearings schedule for Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor, which will convene on July 13, to President Obama's plan to close the prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, by January 2010.

"We don't want to have a situation like they did with Guantanamo where they didn't even have a game plan," McConnell, R-Ky., said, referring to the Obama's administration's lack of details on closing the detention facility, which compelled senators last month to strip $80 million of funding for the plan from a war spending bill.

"It's an arbitrary date and it strikes me as a ticket to disaster," he said.

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy said the date presents a "reasonable schedule" that would give members of the committee several more weeks to prepare.

But Leahy did not inform the top Republican on his panel, Sen. Jeff Sessions, ahead of time that he was poised to start the hearings next month, FOX News has learned.

"We found out contemporaneously with the announcement," a source close to Sessions said.

Known as a body of equals, courtesy is one of the primary operational tenets in the Senate. Democrats and Republicans consult constantly to seek agreement on the most menial of legislative tasks. It's rare that such a high-profile decision would be announced without properly notifying the other side.

President Obama has urged the Senate to vote on confirming Sotomayor to the high court before it leaves for a congressional recess in August. Republicans have pressed for more time to consider the nomination.

But Leahy said there was "no reason to unduly delay consideration of this well-qualified nominee. She deserves the opportunity to go before the public and speak of her record." The Vermont Democrat said that as a judge, she will only be able to speak publicly about her record when the hearings convene.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said delaying Sotomayor's confirmation hearings until the fall would represent the longest time a nominee had to wait until a vote was taken.

Democrats compared the time it took to confirm Chief Justice John Roberts as ample for a review of Sotomayor. Reid, Leahy and Sens. Chuck Schumer, John Kerry and Barbara Boxer said the 48-day wait is consistent with the 51-day period before the Roberts hearing. Any delay until after August would be the longest in history, Reid said.

Republicans countered that Sotomayro has a much longer record than Roberts and having a September hearing is consistent with Obama's schedule to have Sotomayor on the bench by the first Monday in October when the new court session convenes.

Reid said Republicans want to delay hearings in hopes that something damaging emerges against Sotomayor.

"All we've been asking for is fairness," he said. "This is an above-average amount of time before this usually comes up. Shouldn't she be able to look at her office? Hire some clerks? Read some briefs? She's jammed in. It's unfair to her. And it's unfair to our country.

FOX News' Chad Pergram and Mosheh Oinounou and The Associated Press contributed to this story.