Srinivasan, currently the principal deputy solicitor general of the US, Wednesday headed toward confirmation to the prestigious US Court of Appeals for the American capital "often called the nation's second-highest court" with little opposition from Republican senators.

As he faced the Senate Judiciary Committee Wednesday, Republican Orrin Hatch indicated that he would vote for him even as he pressed Obama's nominee on whether he would be able to step away from his current role as an advocate and be impartial as a judge.