 Sotomayor was thus nominated on November 27 , 1991 , by President George H. W. Bush to a seat on the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York vacated by John M. Walker , Jr . Senate Judiciary Committee hearings , led by a friendly Democratic majority , went smoothly for her in June 1992 , with her pro bono activities winning praise from Senator Ted Kennedy and her getting unanimous approval from the committee . Then a Republican senator blocked her nomination and that of three others for a while in retaliation for an unrelated block Democrats had put on another nominee . D 'Amato objected strongly ; some weeks later , the block was dropped , and Sotomayor was confirmed by unanimous consent of the full United States Senate on August 11 , 1992 , and received her commission the next day . 
