Kagan hearing to begin June 28

Elena Kagan’s
hearing for Supreme Court confirmation is scheduled to begin June 28, according to Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy
(D-Vt.).

The confirmation hearings would begin that Monday and continue throughout the week. Leahy said that date would provide 49 days from the time President Barack Obama announced his selection to the beginning of the hearings for senators to research her background and prepare their questions, one day longer than the timeline for Justice Sonia Sotomayor’s confirmation last summer.

{mosads}Leahy said that “one person’s criticism of this nomination because [Kagan] has not been a judge and doesn’t have years of opinions… should make preparing for a hearing less labor intensive.”

“We will make sure every senator has ample time to ask the questions they want,” Leahy added.

Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.), the ranking member of the Judiciary Committee, noted Republicans had requested the confirmation begin after the July 4th congressional recess so they would have more time to research Kagan, but were satisfied the hearing would be conducted in a fair and effective way.

“There is no reason to unduly delay consideration of this nomination,” Leahy said. “Justice Stevens announced on April 9 that he would be leaving the Court. He noted that ‘it would be in the best interests of the court to have [his] successor appointed and confirmed well in advance of the commencement of the court’s next term,’ and I wholeheartedly agree with Justice Stevens. That is in the best interests of the court and the country.”

Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), who met Tuesday with Kagan, is unsatisfied with the start date.

“I’m disappointed that the Chairman set a date so soon. We have just started receiving documents regarding Solicitor General Kagan’s nomination, and we have been promised tens of thousands more,” Cornyn said. “When I met with Solicitor General Kagan yesterday, she told me that the still-unreleased documents will give us invaluable insight into how she would approach her job as a member of the Supreme Court. It is unreasonable to schedule the nomination hearing without knowing when, or if, we will have those documents.”

Despite pushback over the timeline, Sessions predicted the confirmation process could be completed before the August recess and noted Republicans would focus their questions on judicial activism and adherence to the Constitution.

“I expect it to be a vigorous and important hearing,” Sessions said.

Leahy and Sessions said they had requested records from Kagan’s time working in the Clinton administration as well.

The request came as alumni of the Clinton administration held a conference call Wednesday to praise Kagan’s work during her time in that White House.

Former Chief of Staff John Podesta and other former top officials lauded Kagan’s intellect and stressed her ability to work amicably with the GOP-controlled Congress at that time.

Also working Wednesday to get behind Kagan was Organizing for America, Obama’s political arm at the Democratic National Committee, which on Wednesday launched a “Kagan for Justice Action Center.” The action center provides resources on the president’s pick for the Supreme Court in order to allow grassroots supporters to reach out on a local level, especially to media, to support Kagan’s nomination.