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Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan, who has
displayed a cool demeanor and a sense of humor during her Senate
Judiciary Committee hearing, was expected to move one step closer
Wednesday to succeeding Justice John Paul Stevens, barring a major
gaffe.

      Republicans who oppose her nomination will need to resort to a
filibuster to block a confirmation vote, a prospect that seems less
and less likely.

      A few uncomfortable exchanges with Republican senators about her
treatment of the military and her political views didn't slow down
Kagan during Tuesday's hearing. She tried to assure conservatives
that her work as a Clinton White House aide and as President Barack
Obama's solicitor general wouldn't make her a partisan justice.

      "It's all about law when you put on a judge's robes," Kagan
said. "It's not about politics, it's not about policy. It's all
about law and making your best judgment about what the law
requires. And that is the pledge that I said is the only pledge I
would make yesterday and I'll make it again now."

      Some Republicans didn't seem convinced. In a heated
back-and-forth, Sen. Jeff Sessions of Alabama accused Kagan of
defying federal law by barring recruiters from Harvard Law School's
career services office because of her strong opposition to the
military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy banning openly gay
service members.


      "I know what happened at Harvard. I know you were an outspoken
leader against the military policy," said Sessions, the
committee's top Republican. "I know you acted without legal
authority to reverse Harvard's policy and deny those military equal
access to campus until you were threatened by the United States
government of loss of federal funds."

      Kagan said she was trying to balance Harvard's nondiscrimination
policy, which she believed "don't ask, don't tell" violated, with
a federal law that required schools to give military recruiters
equal access as a condition of eligibility for federal funds.


      "We were trying to make sure that military recruiters had full
and complete access to our students, but we were also trying to
protect our own antidiscrimination policy and to protect the
students whom it is ... supposed to protect, which in this case
were our gay and lesbian students," she said.


      Republicans were also frustrated by her refusal to answer
questions on specific legal issues or her political views, despite
her having once denounced Supreme Court nominees for dodging
questions.


      "You are dancing a bit - maybe you should be on 'Dancing with
the Stars,"' said Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla. Later, he pressed her
on how she would take off her "political hat."

      "That hat has not been on for many years," Kagan shot back.


      She did call recent Supreme Court rulings upholding gun rights
"binding precedent." She said the court's rulings require that in
any law regulating abortion "the woman's life and the woman's
health have to be protected." She said a 5-4 decision this year
that corporations and unions were free to spend their own money on
political activity was "settled law."

      A master of the deadpan quip, Kagan used humor to disarm some
senators.


      She told the notoriously cranky Sen. Arlen Specter, D-Pa., that
allowing television in the Supreme Court - something Specter
objects to - would mean "I'd have to get my hair done more
often."


      That got a smile. "You have shown a really admirable sense of
humor, and I think that is really important," Specter said.


      Kagan later endorsed a friend for a federal judgeship and maybe
even a Supreme Court slot someday - despite the fact that Democrats
filibustered his nomination to the federal bench by President
George W. Bush.


      Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., called Miguel Estrada's not being a
judge "one of the great tragedies for the country" and asked
Kagan whether Estrada was qualified.

      "He's qualified to sit as an appellate judge. He's qualified to
sit as a Supreme Court justice," said Kagan, who attended Harvard
Law School with Estrada.

      That answer clearly surprised Graham, who asked Kagan to put it
in writing. She agreed.


      "Well, your stock really went up with me," Graham said.
      

Gallery

Republicans challenge Kagan on military at Harvard

A quick guide to understanding the Kagan hearings

Kagan pledges deference to Congress

Politics and Government News

Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan, who has
displayed a cool demeanor and a sense of humor during her Senate
Judiciary Committee hearing, was expected to move one step closer
Wednesday to succeeding Justice John Paul Stevens, barring a major
gaffe.


High court nominee faces another day of questions

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