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Senate hears final statements on Kagan confirmation

By Daniel Richey

[JURIST] The US Senate on Tuesday heard final statements [transcript] on the confirmation of Supreme Court [official website] nominee Elena Kagan [official profile; JURIST news archive]. Most Congressional Republicans oppose her confirmation, but have backed off [Washington Post report] of the prospect of a filibuster given statements that at least five Republicans will vote in Kagan's favor. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL) [official website], the ranking Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee [official website], questioned [video] Kagan's "discipline" and called her an "activist, liberal, progressive, politically-minded judge who will not be happy to simply decide cases, but will seek to advance her causes." Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-NC) [official website], however, explained [video] his high-profile decision to support Kagan, arguing that the advise and consent clause [text] of the US Constitution is not meant to subject nominees to the discretion of the Congress, but only to check against the appointment of judges who are grossly lacking in character or qualifications or who were inappropriately nominated:

We're trying to make sure the President, he or she, picks a good, qualified judge, not some unfit character, not some person ... who would be a lousy judge. Now, when I apply that standard to Elena Kagan, I cannot find anything about her that makes her an unfit character to me. Quite frankly, from what I know about her from listening to her for a couple of days and having people tell me about her, is I think she's a very fine person, with stellar character.

Conservative Democrat Ben Nelson (D-NE) is the only member of the Senate majority expected to vote against Kagan. The final vote on her nomination is expected Thursday.

The Senate Judiciary Committee approved Kagan's nomination [JURIST report] last month with a largely party-line 13-6 vote [video]. Earlier that month, the committee delayed its vote [JURIST report] at the request of Sen. Sessions. In asking for the delay, Sessions cited [video] concerns over Kagan's positions on legislation during the her time working in the Clinton administration and called her answers to questions during the hearing "less than candid." Kagan's confirmation hearing concluded in June [JURIST report]. During the hearings, Kagan addressed the effect of political bias on the court and stresed the importance of not bringing politics to the bench. Kagan's confirmation hearings began [JURIST report] with Democratic and Republican senators offering contrasting interpretations of Kagan's judicial philosophy and lack of experience on the bench. President Obama nominated Kagan [JURIST report] in May to replace Justice John Paul Stevens, who announced his retirement [JURIST report] in April. Kagan became the first woman confirmed as Solicitor General [JURIST report] in 2009.

Full post as published by JURIST - The Paper Chase on August 04, 2010 (boomark / email).