Jan. 30 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. Supreme Court nominee Samuel A. Alito Jr. moved closer to confirmation as the Senate agreed to end four days of debate on his selection to replace retiring Justice Sandra Day O'Connor.

The Senate voted 72-25 to shut off debate and ensure Alito will win confirmation when the Senate votes tomorrow and will become the 110th justice in the nation's history. Democrats fell 16 votes short of the 41 they needed to sustain a filibuster, a parliamentary tactic that allows unlimited debate. Nineteen Democrats voted against the filibuster.

Alito, who needs 51 votes to win confirmation, already has the support of 53 Republicans and four Democrats in the Senate, which Republicans control by a 55-45 margin. Republicans accused Democrats of partisanship in opposing Alito.

Assistant Republican leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky said Democrats were ``turning the confirmation process of a judge into the functional equivalent of a political campaign'' in a `reckless effort'' to block Alito. Republicans might use the same tactics against the next Democratic president's Supreme Court nominees if ``this hyper-politicization of the judicial confirmation process continues,'' McConnell says.

Democrats argued that Alito's judicial philosophy would tip the balance on the closely divided Supreme Court on such issues as presidential power, affirmative action and congressional authority to pass environmental laws.

`Profound Effect'

``There is no question in anybody's mind that Samuel Alito is going to have a profound effect on the Supreme Court,'' Massachusetts Senator John Kerry, the Democratic Party's 2004 presidential candidate, said in a floor speech. Kerry and fellow Massachusetts Democrat Edward M. Kennedy led the filibuster effort.

Democrats argued that Alito would defer to President George W. Bush's claims of wartime powers on matters such as domestic spying and would vote to overturn abortion rights, which O'Connor supported.

Alito's 15-year record as a federal appeals court judge shows he is ``someone who is going to be a roadblock to the march toward progress'' for civil rights, workers' rights and individual liberties, Kennedy said. ``He is the wrong judge at the wrong time for the wrong court.''

Miers Withdraws

Bush nominated Alito, 55, on Oct. 31 after opposition from Republican senators and party activists forced him to withdraw the nomination of White House Counsel Harriet Miers. Republicans questioned whether Miers could be relied upon to vote to overturn the high court's 1973 decision that legalized abortion nationwide.

``It's very clear how this nominee was selected, why he was selected,'' Kennedy said.

The Senate confirmed Bush's other nominee, Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr., in September on a 78-22 vote.

Senator John Ensign, a Nevada Republican, was injured in a car accident in Las Vegas and missed the filibuster vote on Alito. Senators Tom Harkin of Iowa, a Democrat, and Chuck Hagel of Nebraska, a Republican, also didn't vote on the procedural issue.

To contact the reporter on this story: James Rowley in Washington at jarowley@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: January 30, 2006 18:12 EST