Litigation

Republican on Kagan: ?Dancing,? and ?Tough as Nails?

By Peter Hardin

Americans are getting a more multidimensional impression of Elena Kagan as the 50-year-old Supreme Court nominee forges her way through hour after hour of nationally telecast and webcast Senate Judiciary Committee hearings.

The U.S. solicitor general was “poised,” “combative,” “somewhat guarded,” and “quick to volley with her own comedic abilities” during a 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. day of testimony Tuesday, according to various news media reports.

The different sides of her personality, or perhaps performance, so far may have been well reflected in separate reactions by Sen. Tom Coburn. He is an Oklahoma Republican and one of the panel’s most conservative members.

Coburn told a New York Times interviewer about Kagan and her posture on giving opinions, ?She?s doing exactly what she criticized other nominees for doing. She?s dancing.? At another point, Coburn told Kagan during Tuesday’s hearing that she was smart and “tough as nails,” according to a Washington Post article.

A centerpiece of Kagan’s testimony Tuesday was her intense questioning by Sen. Jeff Sessions, an Alabama Republican, over the limits she set on military recruitment as dean of Harvard Law School (see earlier Gavel Grab post). While standing up for her actions, she “came under blistering attack” from Sessions, the Boston Globe reported.

Kagan testified she would keep her political views out of judging. The former Clinton White House aide also said of her own thinking, “my political views are generally progressive,” according to a McClatchy Newspapers article.

On key issues, Kagan gave some of her views:

• HEALTH CARE: A legal basis exists for a requirement in the new healthcare overhaul law that most Americans get health insurance, the Washington Post quoted her as saying.
• ENEMY COMBATANTS: She backed the prosecution of enemy combatants before military commissions.
• CONSERVATIVE FIGURES: Kagan spoke highly favorably of Justice Antonin Scalia, and also of Miguel Estrada, who was unsuccessfully nominated to a federal appeals court by President George W. Bush.

The Washington Post said “an explicit bipartisan appeal was a central theme of her performance,” and characterized Kagan’s testimony as giving the “strongest clues to date about her positions.” But the Boston Globe said she “seemed to go through her own verbal contortions as she sought to avoid discussing how she would rule on upcoming cases.”

Kagan continued testifying before the Judiciary Committee Wednesday. You can learn background about Kagan and her nomination from Gavel Grab and Justice at Stake?s ?Replacing Justice Stevens? page, and you can track her confirmation hearings by clicking on Justice at Stake?s Twitter page.

Full post as published by The Gavel on June 30, 2010 (boomark / email).