Elena Kagan confirmation hearings

10 Stories

McConnell Snaps at Franken: 'This Isn't SNL'

Senate minority leader not amused by funny faces

(Newser) - There was too much of the funnyman about Al Franken for Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell yesterday. The comedian-turned-senator was presiding over the Senate as McConnell made a speech opposing Elena Kagan's confirmation to the Supreme Court . Franken appeared to be shifting in his seat and making faces, which McConnell...

Stewart Explains GOP's Beef With Kagan: She's a Jew

Daily Show dissects the confirmation hearings

(Newser) - Jon Stewart thinks he's discovered the real reason Republicans don't like Elena Kagan. After poring over clips of her confirmation hearings—in which they made sidelong references to her "background" and "beliefs" and New York upbringing, Stewart cracked, "Let's cut to the chase: You're a Jew! You're...

Specter Chides Kagan on Dodging, May Vote No

But her confirmation appears certain

(Newser) - Elena Kagan has demonstrated a winning sense of humor during her confirmation hearings, but count Democrat Arlen Specter among those unamused. When she refused (as she has throughout the hearings) to provide a detailed response to a legal question, he cut her short to criticize her evasion and warned that...

Kagan Dodges—on Twilight

 Kagan Dodges—on Twilight 
team edward or jacob?
Jun 30, 2010 2:25 PM CDT

Kagan Dodges—on Twilight

Senator wants to know if she likes the werewolf or vampire

(Newser) - Elena Kagan is artfully dodging questions of substance, so Sen. Amy Klobuchar tried to find out her views on a less pressing matter related to the latest Twilight movie: Team Edward or Team Jacob? Alas, we learn nothing, notes USA Today , as the video in the gallery shows. The day's...

This Woman Is Actually Having Fun
 This Woman 
 Is Actually 
 Having Fun 


In a confirmation hearing?!
Jun 30, 2010 10:28 AM CDT

This Woman Is Actually Having Fun

Nobody told Elena Kagan that confirmation hearings are painful, dreary affairs

(Newser) - You can fault her, as the New York Times did, for giving away practically nothing of her judicial philosophy or her views on key issues in her Senate confirmation testimony yesterday, but Dalia Lithwick notes in Slate that it was pretty damn hard not to like the Elena Kagan we...

Kagan Hearings? Let's Doodle Instead
 Kagan Hearings? 
 Let's Doodle Instead 
al franken's hidden talents
Jun 29, 2010 4:49 PM CDT

Kagan Hearings? Let's Doodle Instead

As expected, day 2 produces no bombshells

(Newser) - Elena Kagan had a testy exchange in the morning with Jeff Sessions over her role in military recruiting at Harvard, but day 2 of her Supreme Court nomination hearings has been "rather unilluminating," writes Newsweek . (Though a photo of Al Franken sketching Sessions during the hearings was kind...

Kagan Refuses to Discuss Her Legal Views

Sessions grills Supreme Court nominee over military controversy

(Newser) - Elena Kagan began today’s round of confirmation questioning by declaring that it would be inappropriate for her to discuss how she might rule on future Supreme Court cases. That's ironic, the New York Times notes, because Kagan once wrote that confirmation hearings had taken on “an air of...

Kagan: 'I Will Listen Hard'
 Kagan: 'I Will 
 Listen Hard'  
UPDATED
Jun 28, 2010 3:05 PM CDT

Kagan: 'I Will Listen Hard'

Supreme Court nominee treads lightly in opening statement

(Newser) - The first day of Elena Kagan's confirmation hearings has concluded, as expected, without any fireworks. "I will listen hard, to every party before the court and to each of my colleagues. I will work hard," the Supreme Court nominee and current solicitor general said. " And I will...

GOP Struggling for Traction on Kagan as Hearings Begin

'So little oxygen' for opposition, so many distractions

(Newser) - Elena Kagan is in for something of a cakewalk in confirmation hearings that begin today. Republicans still haven’t been able to dig up any real dirt on Obama’s second Supreme Court nominee, the Washington Post reports. Their latest straw grasp: Robert Bork coming out of the woodwork to...

What Senators Should Ask Elena Kagan

Confirmation hearings must focus on big picture

(Newser) - The process Elena Kagan once derided as a "vapid and hollow charade" gets under way tomorrow when the solicitor general appears before the Senate Judiciary Committee as President Obama's second Supreme Court nominee. "Instead of playing cat-and-mouse with the nominee about how she would rule in future cases,...

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