WASHINGTON – Two Democrats who supported Chief Justice John Roberts said yesterday they would oppose Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito in next week’s Senate vote.

The conservative judge is expected to be confirmed, but with fewer votes than the 78 Chief Justice Roberts got in September.

Democratic Senators Leahy of Vermont and Salazar of Colorado both questioned whether Judge Alito would be independent of President Bush and the executive branch in his future rulings.

“At a time when the president is seizing unprecedented power, the Supreme Court needs to act as a check and to provide balance,” Mr. Leahy, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, said in a speech at Georgetown University’s law school.” Based on the hearing and his record, I have no confidence that Judge Alito would provide that check and balance.”

Added Mr. Salazar in a statement: “Judge Alito would place too much power in the hands of the president of the United States, at the cost of the protective system of checks and balances built into our Constitution.

The Judiciary Committee, which has 10 Republicans and eight Democrats – is expected to approve Judge Alito’s nomination Tuesday in a party-line vote. The full Senate is expected to debate and vote on the nomination that same week, with its Republican majority confirming the federal appeals judge.

Messrs. Leahy, Salazar, and Max Baucus of Montana – who announced his opposition to Judge Alito on Wednesday – were three of the 22 Democrats who voted for Chief Justice Roberts’ confirmation as the replacement for the late Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist, a conservative.

Judge Alito is not expected to get that much support from the Senate’s 44-member Democratic caucus. He was picked by Mr. Bush as the replacement for retiring moderate Sandra Day O’Connor, who was the swing vote on contentious issues such as abortion and affirmative action during her career on the court.

Several other Democrats are opposing Judge Alito, including Tom Harkin of Iowa, Dick Durbin of Illinois, Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts and Barbara Mikulski of Maryland.

Senator Nelson of Nebraska is the only Democrat to announce that he will vote for Judge Alito’s confirmation next week. He also voted for Chief Justice Roberts’s confirmation.

None of the Senate’s 55 Republicans have announced opposition to Judge Alito. Most – if not all – of them are expected to vote for his confirmation. They all voted for Chief Justice Roberts.

Independent Senator Jeffords of Vermont has not announced how he’ll vote.

Judge Alito is continuing to visit senators, spending time yesterday with Senator Carper, a Democrat of Delaware, and new Senator Menendez, a Democrat of New Jersey. Messrs. Carper and Menendez have not taken positions on Judge Alito’s nomination. “I have reservations,” Mr. Menendez said.

Senators Sununu, a Republican of New Hampshire, and Warner, a Republican of Virginia, announced their support for Judge Alito after meeting with him yesterday.

“He understands the law and the Constitution extremely well, and I think one of the abilities he showed was to clearly describe how he ruled, why he ruled, and what factors were critical to particular cases,” Mr. Sununu said. “That’s an indication that his service on the court and his view of the Constitution is rooted in principle.”

Added Mr. Warner: “In my view, Judge Alito’s strong record and experience, coupled with his appearance before the Judiciary Committee, eliminates any question of the existence of extraordinary circumstances that would justify denying him confirmation by the Senate.”