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Elena Kagan's confirmation hearing: Day three
July 1, 2010
Washington, D.C.: Yesterday was Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan's second day of questioning in the Senate Judiciary Committee. The morning began with more Round One questions, all from Democrats in descending order of seniority. All four of them, Sheldon Whitehouse, Amy Klobuchar, Ted Kaufman, and Al Franken leveled friendly questions for the nominee or partisan attacks on the current Supreme Court, allowing Kagan to smile and not comment.[1]
Round Two of the hearing, providing senators with up to (Leahy emphasized) 20 minutes of questioning, gave mostly Republican Senators a second chance to respond to answers given the day before by Kagan. It began with Senator Jeff Sessions, after the Chairman yielded his time. Like his first round of questioning, Sessions again concentrated on Kagan's time as Dean of Harvard Law School. Also following this line of questioning was Sen. Orrin Hatch, who read from testimony of former Army recruiters at Harvard stating that their accomodations were not adequate for recruiting. Again, Kagan insisted that the school always provided equal access.[2]
Hatch also brought up issue of the so-called "Partial Birth Abortion Ban," which was vetoed by President Bill Clinton, to whom Kagan was a legal aide. During his questioning, he implied that she had used her position to influence the debate on the issue, even writing the language that ultimately became part of the discussion. Senator Lindsey Graham took this one step further, asking the Solicitor General her personal views on abortion and assuring her that he also would have attempted to sway policy to fit his beliefs.[2]
This was one issue that Kagan hardly commented on, careful in her answer because of possible pending cases. Other controversial issues treated similarily were: eminent domian; whether marriage was an issue for the states to decide; trying enemy combatants; and healthcare.[2]
The second day was the last day of questioning for the nominee. Reconvening this afternoon, the Committee will hear testimony from witnesses. From there, the 19 Senators of the Senate Judiciary Committee will vote on Kagan's confirmation. Varying opinions in the media have suggested when this will occur, though there is no way to know.
Yesterday, Sen. Patrick Leahy told the media that Kagan was sure to be confirmed. Even Republican Senators John Cornyn and Jon Kyl seemed begrudgingly to accept that, saying that a filibuster was unlikely.[3]
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