IL-SEN

Mark Kirk: I Support Elena Kagan's Nomination For SCOTUS

Eric Kleefeld | July 23, 2010, 11:23AM

Rep. Mark Kirk (R-IL)

Rep. Mark Kirk (R-IL), the GOP's nominee for the Illinois Senate seat formerly held by President Obama, has now stated his support for the Supreme Court nomination of Elena Kagan, and that he would vote to confirm her if he were in the Senate right now. The move is seemingly a part of Kirk's effort to appeal to voters in the center, having worked hard to present himself as a moderate and independent-minded Republican.

"With regard to Solicitor General Kagan, I would support her nomination. Ms. Kagan appears to be modest and thoughtful not because she expected this nomination but because she is modest and thoughtful," Kirk said in a statement. "Under the Constitution, only the President can make this nomination and Solicitor General Kagan is one of the more careful nominees he could have picked."

The TPM Poll Average gives Kirk a narrow lead of 41.3%-38.9% over Democratic state Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias. Both candidates have suffered from bad publicity. In Giannoulias's case, it's the failure of his family's bank, and for Kirk it's his history of having made false statements about his military service.

Supreme Court vacancy

Judiciary Committee Approves Elena Kagan's Supreme Court Nomination

Christina Bellantoni | July 20, 2010, 12:29PM

Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan

The Senate Judiciary Committee today approved the nomination for Solicitor General Elena Kagan to serve on the Supreme Court, voting 13-6 and teeing up a floor fight over President Obama's second nominee for the high court. Her confirmation would mark the first time in history the court would include three women.

All of the committee's Democrats voted in favor of Kagan's nomination. All but one of the committee's Republicans opposed her. Sen. Lindsey Graham repeated his role from last summer's Sonia Sotomayor confirmation by being the lone Republican to back the nominee. Graham (R-SC), targeted by the tea party as a potential swing vote, said "There's plenty of reasons for a conservative to vote no, but there are plenty of reasons for a conservative to vote yes."

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Lindsey Graham To Support Kagan: 'Plenty Of Reasons For A Conservative To Vote Yes'

Christina Bellantoni | July 20, 2010, 11:31AM

Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan and Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC)

Sen. Lindsey Graham said this morning he will buck the majority of Republican senators to vote for Elena Kagan's nomination to the Supreme Court. Graham (R-SC) announced his intentions before the committee was to approve the nominee and send Kagan's nomination to the full Senate.

"What's in Elena Kagan's heart is that of a good person who adopts a philosophy that I disagree with," Graham said after other Republicans criticized Kagan, the solicitor general, as lacking judicial experience. "There's plenty of reasons for a conservative to vote no, but there are plenty of reasons for a conservative to vote yes."

"She is a loyal American, very patriotic," Graham said after detailing her record on military issues. He said Kagan was "smart" and "funny" and that shows "you are pretty comfortable with who you are." He added, "she's liberal." Graham also said Miguel Estrada's letter in support of Kagan hit him "hard" and factored into his decision. During her confirmation hearings, Graham and Kagan discussed Estrada's legal career and she agreed to write a letter recommending him for the high court. Today, Graham read aloud from Kagan's letter, which called Estrada a "towering intellect."

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Health care lawsuits

Sessions Challenges Kagan Over Health Care Reform Suits (VIDEO)

Christina Bellantoni | July 15, 2010, 8:45AM

The Supreme Court building, Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan, the Caduceus, and Senator Jeff Sessions (R-AL)

We saw this one coming, but Sen. Jeff Sessions finally has given the most explicit description yet of why he thinks Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan has a problem when it comes to health care reform.

Sessions (R-AL), the ranking member on the Senate Judiciary Committee (which is tasked with Kagan's nomination next Tuesday), is now suggesting that Kagan can't sit on the bench and decide on state challenges to health care reform because as solicitor general, she must have spoken with the Obama administration about the lawsuits.

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Supreme Court vacancy

Tea Party Targets Lindsey Graham Over Kagan

Christina Bellantoni | July 14, 2010, 1:25PM

Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan and Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC)

Tea party activists are claiming victory over the one-week delay until Solicitor General Elena Kagan receives a vote in the Senate Judiciary Committee, and one group is going after Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) as the most likely GOP "Yes" vote to confirm Kagan to the Supreme Court.

"This gives us more time and we must not fail. We must keep calling Senators and tell them to stop Kagan," Tea Party Nation wrote supporters in an email obtained by TPM Organizers misspelled Graham's name, then said he's "the most likely" to support Kagan's nomination.

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Supreme Court vacancy

Kagan: I'm Not A Socialist And Can't Remember All The Dumb Memos I Wrote

Christina Bellantoni | July 13, 2010, 1:33PM

Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan and Senator Tom Coburn (R-OK)

The Senate Judiciary Committee today agreed to delay the vote to approve Solicitor General Elena Kagan's nomination to the Supreme Court for another week. Republicans argued -- as expected -- they needed more time to review the answers Kagan submitted to their questions for the record after her hearings earlier this month.

TPM read through the dozens of questions and answers so you don't have to. While most of the answers were a little, well, dry, we've collected the Top 5 most noteworthy below.

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Supreme Court vacancy

Senate's Summer Session Gets Shorter: GOP Plans To Delay Kagan Vote

Christina Bellantoni | July 12, 2010, 4:13PM

Senator Jeff Sessions (R-AL)

Here we go. Despite the precious little time left for Congress to get anything done, Republicans tomorrow will ask for the committee vote on Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan to be delayed for an additional week.

Hotline on Call reported this afternoon that Republican aides plan to ask for the delay tomorrow when the Judiciary Committee arrives for the planned vote on Kagan. GOP aides haven't yet confirmed this for TPM, but Sen. Jon Kyl may have tipped his hand yesterday on "Fox News Sunday."

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Supreme Court vacancy

Guess Who's Opposing Kagan? Endangered Republican Incumbents

Christina Bellantoni | July 8, 2010, 3:21PM

(Clockwise, from top left) Senators Johnny Isakson (R-GA), John McCain (R-AZ), Robert Bennett (R-UT), Orrin Hatch (R-UT), Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) and Mitch McConnell (R-KY).

Can you guess why eight Republican senators -- including one who backed her for solicitor general -- are opposing Elena Kagan's nomination to the Supreme Court? In the year of the tea party, it's perhaps not so hard to figure out. Most of them are facing, have faced or might eventually face voters who think that they aren't conservative enough.

Sens. Jim DeMint (R-SC) and James Inhofe (R-OK), both of whom announced their opposition already, were probably always going to vote against Kagan anyway. But the other senators who have made their disapproval public have, at times, been considered of a more moderate persuasion. Sens. Johnny Isakson (R-GA), John McCain (R-AZ), Robert Bennett (R-UT), Orrin Hatch (R-UT), Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) have something in common besides their already announced "No" votes on Kagan -- political targets on their back.

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Elena Kagan

Hatch Will Vote Against Kagan Nomination

Jillian Rayfield | July 2, 2010, 10:20AM

Sen Orrin Hatch (R-UT)

Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT) will vote against Elena Kagan's nomination to the Supreme Court, according to a statement he released today.

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Supreme Court vacancy

Grilling Ms. Kagan -- The 7 Toughest Questioners At SCOTUS Hearings (VIDEO)

Christina Bellantoni | July 1, 2010, 5:47PM

(Clockwise from top left) Senators Arlen Specter (D-PA), Tom Coburn (R-OK), Russ Feingold (D-WI) and Lindsey Graham (R-SC) question Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan (center, inset).

It wasn't quite a supreme grilling, but some of the Judiciary Committee's members were surprisingly tough on Solicitor General Elena Kagan this week. Although at first the Republicans spent their time deriding Thurgood Marshall as a so-called "activist judge," by day three they took up all the hot button social issues they had largely ignored in the first round of questions.

Since Kagan's testimony is complete -- Chairman Pat Leahy told her it was "The last time you'll ever have to be in a public hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee." -- TPM rounded up the toughest questioners. They might just surprise you, since some Democrats gave Kagan as hard a time as their colleagues across the aisle.

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Elena Kagan

Young Conservatives Rage Against The D.C. Machine At Anti-Kagan Rally

Evan McMorris-Santoro | July 1, 2010, 4:31PM

Youth protest against Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan.

About 50 young conservatives gathered outside the Supreme Court today to protest what they say will be one of the defining political moments of their generation -- the nomination of Elena Kagan to the U.S. Supreme Court. The only truly organized "national" protest of the Kagan nomination in D.C. this week, the event was put together by a of coalition of groups representing the right-wing youth of America -- Young Americans for Freedom, the Young Conservatives Coalition and the GOP Youth Convention.

For about an hour, they raged against the machinery that most political watchers agree will confirm Kagan's appointment to the Court by the end of the summer. And they took time to throw a few punches at Republicans and other conservatives they say aren't fired up enough by the Kagan proceedings.

"The fact of the matter is, years and years of college indoctrination and high school indoctrination has made Americans impartial," the 16-year-old YAF high school coordinator, Naphtali Rivkin, told me. "It's a real problem."

Rivkin was referring to the millions of conservatives he and others said should be upset by the Kagan nomination, but didn't bother to show up and make their anger known.

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Elena Kagan

Right-Wing Youth Group Rallying Against Kagan Today

Evan McMorris-Santoro | July 1, 2010, 9:27AM

Protesters outside the US Supreme Court building.

Right-wing youth will gather in D.C. at 12:30 today to call on the Senate not to confirm Elena Kagan to the Supreme Court. The event, hosted by the conservative Young Americans for Freedom, will include speeches by leaders from the libertarian CATO Institute, the Heritage Foundation and the tea party movement.

The event, coming four days into the Kagan hearings and after the end of Kagan's public testimony before Congress, is the first organized demonstration for or against Kagan this week. So far, the hearings have been relatively controversy-free (outside the hearing room that is), with only Capitol Hill mainstay Randall Terry and his followers showing up each day to attack Kagan over abortion rights.

Today's protest also includes talk of abortion, but will focus on other conservative attacks on Kagan as well.

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