GOP senators: Can Kagan be impartial?

June 28, 2010 at 12:00a.m.

Associated Press

WASHINGTON

Leading Republican senators on Sunday questioned whether Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan could be an impartial judge as they tried to inject some drama into her upcoming confirmation hearing.

Democrats praised Kagan’s record and predicted she will win confirmation as the 112th justice — and the court’s fourth woman.

The Senate Judiciary Committee begins the weeklong hearing today. Kagan is not expected to face questions until Tuesday.

Sen. Jeff Sessions of Alabama, the top Republican on the committee, said Kagan’s nomination has “real problems” that she will have to address.

“I think the first thing we need to decide is, is she committed to the rule of law even if she may not like the law? Will she as a judge subordinate herself to the Constitution and keep her political views at bay?” Sessions said.

Kagan’s lack of judicial experience means more focus on her political views, Sessions said.

“She’s been aggressive on issue after issue from the liberal side of the political issues,” he said.

Sens. John Cornyn, R-Texas, and Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said Kagan would be pressed to explain her role, while dean at the Harvard law school, in limiting military recruiting at the law school because of the Pentagon’s policy of barring openly gay soldiers.

Cornyn said the hearings could be as much about President Barack Obama as his high-court nominee. “Clearly this president is trying to get somebody through who has a very sparse record and who he believes will be a reliable vote on the left wing of the United States Supreme Court,” Cornyn said.

Kagan, 50, had virtually no courtroom experience before Obama made her his top Supreme Court lawyer last year. She argued six cases at the high court stretching back to September.