On July 20, 2010 a single Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee voted approval of Elena Kagan to be the fourth female associate justice ever to serve on the Supreme Court.
The vote was 13-6 with Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) breaking party ranks to vote approval. Senator Graham explained his approval vote:
“What’s in Elena Kagan’s heart is that of a good person who adopts a philosophy I disagree with,” Graham said. “She will serve this nation honorably, and it would not have been someone I would have chosen, but the person who did choose, President Obama, I think chose wisely.”
Elena Kagan has served as Obama’s Solicitor General, the highest-ranking trial lawyer in the country. She has had limited courtroom experience, but her greatest attributes were noted in an open endorsement letter from sixty-nine deans of law schools and includes an “understanding of both doctrine and policy” as well as her written record of legal analysis.
Kagan will be the third female associate justice currently serving on the Supreme Court and would be the first associate justice since 1972 without any prior bench time as a judge. The last justice with that experience record was William Rehnquist, who rose to spend 19 years as Chief Justice and administered the oath of office to three separate presidents (two of them twice).
Republicans fear that Kagan will put her political views and her liberal agenda ahead of the law. Senator Orrin Hatch (R-UT) said, “Ms. Kagan’s record shows that she supports an activist judicial philosophy, and that her personal and political views drive her legal views.”
Republicans were swift to declare their opposition to Kagan, more than they were with last year’s Supreme Court nominee, Sonia Sotomayor. It comes at a time when November elections are drawing focus, and Republicans are working to polarize themselves from Democratic actions.
Conservative political groups pressured Republican senators to oppose Kagan’s nomination. The National Rifle Association (NRA) urged their campaign beneficiaries to vote “no” or stage a filibuster to block Kagan outright and threatened to downgrade contributions to Kagan supporters. This results from her time when she tried to block military recruiters from campus as Dean of the Harvard Law School.
Senator Graham was the only Republican to publicly announce he would vote to approve, although four other Republicans joined him crossing the party line for the full confirmation vote. Other than those few, Republicans marched in lock step to their party’s orders.
Graham’s decision to support Obama’s Supreme Court nominee makes it increasingly likely he will face a primary challenge by his own party when he’s up for re-election in 2014. South Carolina political gurus say the Senator’s support for Kagan “ensures he will face a serious primary challenge”
“It’s a tough political environment out there,” stated Graham.
It is indeed tough when Members of Congress are more interested in their own reelection than voting what’s best for the people who elected them, and blindly obeying orders to receive support in their next election.
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On August 5, 2010, on the eve of the Congressional vacation, 36 GOP Senators and one Democrat — Senator Ben Nelson of Nebraska – voted against the Supreme Court confirmation of Elena Kagan. Aside from the lockstep robot Republicans, five broke ranks to vote confirmation — Senators Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe of Maine, Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, Richard Lugar of Indiana and Judd Gregg of New Hampshire.
Republican opponents spouted lame excuses for their ‘nay’ vote, like her opposition to military recruiters on the Harvard campus (when they were allowed access everywhere else), her opinion in a single case in her legal history, and her lack of courtroom experience as a judge.
The major reason shared by all who opposed her seemed to be the fear that she will use her own judgement in deciding issues. Those opponents need to read the U.S. Constitution; interpretation is why we have a Supreme Court.
They really fear that she will put her politics ahead of the law and be a rubber stamp for Obama’s agenda.
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Similar treatment was given to Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor. She was only the second jurist to be nominated to three different judicial positions by three different presidents but was still voted against by Republicans.
See: Republicans against Obama nominee Sonia Sotomayor
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