Graybeards, lame duck, political risers to grill would-be Justice Kagan

WASHINGTON — A cast of graybeards, rising stars and a lame duck once in charge convenes Monday as the Senate Judiciary Committee to consider giving President Barack Obama's Supreme Court nominee, Elena Kagan, a lifetime appointment as a justice.

This collection of 12 Democrats, Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, and six other Republicans can ask Kagan questions on virtually any topic during what amounts to a nationally televised job interview.

What's new is the experience level of committee members. Three have chaired confirmation hearings before. There are no rookies; even the junior senators toward the end of the dais participated in the questioning last year of Obama's first nominee for the high court, Sonia Sotomayor.

Also, unlike Sotomayor's hearings, Kagan's are taking place in an election year. Six committee members are up for re-election.

Expect Democrats to promote Kagan's pragmatic streak and her legal acumen. She's an Ivy League scholar, former Harvard Law School dean, presidential counselor in the Clinton White House and current solicitor general.

Republicans are examining her résumé from other angles.

She's never been a judge. As an adviser to President Bill Clinton, she showed a political shrewdness that GOP lawmakers say isn't appropriate for an impartial justice. Most of all, they've taken aim at Kagan's brief refusal to give military recruiters access to the law school's career services office, over the "don't ask don't tell" policy against openly gay soldiers.

A look at some of the players in this week's hearings:

Graybeards

Chairman Patrick J. Leahy, D-Vt., 70.

He's third-most senior of 100 senators, a former state prosecutor who might otherwise have made a living as a photographer. He tends to run the committee with a strict gavel and a wry sense of humor. Leahy led Sotomayor's hearings last summer and has participated in every such proceeding since President Ronald Reagan nominated Sandra Day O'Connor in 1981.

In the past, Leahy has shown impatience with colleagues who talk past their allotted time. But he's also ignored the clock to offer comment, cut off his colleagues, rebut them and otherwise expound. As chairman, he can.

Up for re-election, Leahy is less likely than ever to hold back, though he is not facing any serious competition for his seat.

Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, 76.