Kagan hearings for Supreme Court seat set to start June 28

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Despite Republican objections, the Senate Judiciary Committee will hold confirmation hearings for Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan starting June 28, it was announced on Wednesday.

The hearings will begin soon enough to allow the Senate to take a break in early July. It also means a final vote on Kagan could take place before the August recess, in time for her to take her seat before the start of the court’s fall term and before the final campaigning for the midterm elections.

Kagan, nominated to replace retiring Justice John Paul Stevens, is expected to be confirmed. Top Republicans have said they do not expect a filibuster on the nomination.

Still, the top Republican on the Judiciary Committee, said he would have preferred for the hearings to have started after the July 4 break.

Describing a meeting with Judiciary Chairman Sen. Patrick Leahy of Vermont, Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Alabama) said he urged that the hearing be held after the holiday to allow “adequate time to review Ms. Kagan’s record and to prepare for the hearings.’

“At this time,’ he said, ‘it remains to be seen whether the schedule set by the chairman will be adequate to allow us to meet our important constitutional responsibility to thoroughly review Ms. Kagan’s record on behalf of the American people and to hold respectful and substantive hearings that reflect well on both our committee and the entire Senate.”

--Michael Muskal

Twitter.com/LATimesmuskal Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan meets with Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) in his Capitol Hill office on May 18, 2010. Credit: Paul J. Richards /AFP/Getty Images