whom know Judge Alito professionally, the Standing Committee concluded that Judge Alito is an individual of excellent integrity. Senate votes Committee On January 24, 2006, the Senate Judiciary Committee endorsed the Alito nomination, sending it to the full Senate for final action in a 10–8 party-line vote. Not since 1916, concerning the Supreme Court nomination of Louis Brandeis, had the committee's vote to approve a nominee split precisely along party lines. The vote underscored the contrasting views on Alito's conservative judicial record. Filibuster threat Some Democratic senators who opposed the Alito nomination considered using a filibuster option in the attempt to block the nomination. Barbara Boxer said, "The filibuster's on the table." While other senators warned not to rush to a decision, Dick Durbin said "I don't think we should assume that's going to happen at all." He added, "Ordinarily it takes six to eight weeks to evaluate a Supreme Court nominee. We shouldn't rush to judgment." At the conclusion of the confirmation hearings, on January 12, the threat of a filibuster appeared to grow more remote as Durbin called a filibuster attempt "unlikely," and fellow Democrat Dianne Feinstein said, "I do not see a likelihood of a filibuster. This might be a man I disagree with, but it doesn't mean he shouldn't be on the court." She changed her position on January 27, saying that she would vote no for cloture. One day earlier Senator John Kerry had publicly called for a filibuster to block Alito's confirmation, accusing President Bush of trying to make the Supreme Court more ideologically conservative. Despite receiving support from fellow Democrats, including Ted Kennedy and Hillary Clinton, others, concerned about the political cost of such a move, such as Ben Nelson and Mary Landrieu, opposed it. Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid supported the call for a filibuster, though he acknowledged it was unlikely to succeed, saying, "Everyone knows there are not enough votes to support a filibuster." The effort to garner support for a filibuster indeed fizzled out, as the Senate voted to invoke cloture on the nomination 72–25, easily exceeding the 60 votes needed to pass the motion to end debate; only 24 of the Senate's 44 Democrats went along with the filibuster (the chamber's lone independent, Sen. Jim Jeffords, did as well). All of the members of the Gang of 14 voted for cloture with the majority. While expressing concern about the