The chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee announced today that the senators will start the confirmation hearings for President Obama's Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan on June 28,
"There is no reason to unduly delay consideration of this nomination," Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) said in a statement. "Justice Stevens announced on April 9 that he would be leaving the Court. He noted that 'it would be in the best interests of the Court to have [his] successor appointed and confirmed well in advance of the commencement of the Court's next Term,' and I wholeheartedly agree with Justice Stevens," added Leahy.
The hearing is likely to follow the same timeline of last year, when Justice Sonia Sotomayor was confirmed as the head of the Supreme Court. The hearings normally begins nearly 50 days after the announcement of the nomination.
Leahy added that the Senators should need even less time to make preparations for Kagan's hearings because Republicans have already pointed out that Kagan possesses no judicial experience and therefore the Senate will have nothing to study as previous rulings.
"Republican Senators say that they want to ask Solicitor General Kagan about her actions as the Dean of Harvard Law School and about her judicial philosophy. It does not take two months to prepare to ask those questions," noted Leahy.
