Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) said today that the confirmation hearing for Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan will start June 28, giving senators and their staffs about six weeks to prepare.
Leahy and Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.), the committee’s top Republican, had been waiting to set a date until the White House turned in Kagan’s answers to a committee background questionnaire. That happened Tuesday, and the two senators met afterward to discuss the hearing.
“I’m sure some would like more time. On the other hand, some would like it sooner,” Leahy said before a hearing this morning on refugees.
Leahy said it might be less time-consuming to prepare for Kagan’s hearing than it was to prepare for Justice Sonia Sotomayor’s hearing last year, because Kagan has never been a judge. “That should make preparing for a hearing less intensive,” Leahy said. He also noted that Kagan came before the committee last year as a nominee for solicitor general.
Sessions said he would have preferred that the hearing take place after the Senate's Fourth of July recess. But, he said, with a June 28 start, “The pace would be consistent with last year’s Sotomayor hearing.”
A hearing the week of June 28 likely sets up Kagan for a Judiciary Committee vote by late July and for a Senate confirmation vote before lawmakers leave Washington for the annual August recess.
I am very concerned about Ms. Kagan's 2nd ammendment opinions. Past remarks do not bode well for the 2nd ammendment!!
Thank You
Posted by: Joe Elmore | May 19, 2010 at 07:47 PM