Former Solicitors General Endorse Kagan For Supreme Court

Main Category: Abortion
Article Date: 24 Jun 2010 - 5:00 PDT

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A bipartisan group of eight former solicitors general endorsed Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan in a letter released by the White House on Tuesday, CQ Today reports (Emery, CQ Today, 6/22). The letter was sent to the Senate Judiciary Committee, which is scheduled to begin Kagan's confirmation hearings on Monday (Richey, Christian Science Monitor, 6/22).

The solicitors general said Kagan's experiences as solicitor general in the Obama administration would serve her well on the court (Becker, "The Caucus," New York Times, 6/22). Kagan would "serve on the court with distinction, as have prior solicitors general who have had that great honor," they wrote (Christian Science Monitor, 6/22).

The administration also announced a conference call with two former solicitors generals who signed the letter -- Paul Clement, who served under President George W. Bush, and Seth Waxman, who served under President Clinton. The list of former solicitors general who signed the letter also includes Charles Fried, who served under President Reagan; Kenneth Starr, who served under President George H.W. Bush; Drew Days and Walter Dellinger, both of whom served under Clinton; and Gregory Garre and Theodore Olson, both of whom served in the most recent Bush administration.

The letter and conference call are the latest efforts in "a steady White House drumbeat to demonstrate support for Kagan" as the confirmation hearings approach (CQ Today, 6/22). The efforts have focused on highlighting conservative support, which the administration hopes will "give cover to Republicans who might be inclined to support her and deprive GOP critics of ammunition to use against her," the AP/San Diego Union-Tribune reports (Hirschfeld Davis, AP/San Diego Union-Tribune, 6/22).

Sessions Says GOP Sens. 'Expect' To Attend Hearings

Senate Judiciary Committee ranking member Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) said Tuesday that Republican senators "fully expect" to attend next week's confirmation hearings, despite his earlier statements that Republicans might boycott the hearings.

On Monday evening, Sessions had said Republicans might boycott to protest a White House block of the release of certain documents from Kagan's work for President Clinton. The administration said the roughly 1,600 documents pertained to "personal" matters.

Speaking Tuesday, Sessions said Republicans would only boycott the hearings if "we had a really serious situation" related to withheld documents (Raju, Politico, 6/22).

Antiabortion-Rights Group Questions Kagan in Opinion Piece

In a Roll Call opinion piece on Tuesday, Bill Saunders -- senior vice president of legal affairs and senior counsel for Americans United for Life -- argues that Kagan's writings related to her work as a clerk for former Justice Thurgood Marshall demonstrate that she likely shares his views on abortion-rights issues (Saunders, Roll Call, 6/22). AUL has scheduled a press conference for Wednesday with failed Supreme Court nominee Robert Bork, who plans to criticize Kagan's nomination to the court (Women's Health Policy Report, 6/22).

According to Saunders, Kagan "must answer questions about whether she agrees with" Marshall's opposition to limits on abortion rights (Roll Call, 6/22).

Reprinted with kind permission from http://www.nationalpartnership.org. You can view the entire Daily Women's Health Policy Report, search the archives, or sign up for email delivery here. The Daily Women's Health Policy Report is a free service of the National Partnership for Women & Families.

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