US Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan, who has displayed a cool demeanor and a sense of humor during her Senate confirmation hearing, is expected to move one step closer today to becoming the fourth woman to serve on the nation’s highest court.
Kagan maneuvered carefully on Tuesday through tough Republican questioning on military recruitment at Harvard Law School, gun owners’ rights and free speech, giving little ground to critics and drawing strong praise from Senate Democrats who command the votes to confirm her.
US President Barack Obama’s nominee soldiered through her second day of testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee apparently in good shape to win Senate approval — barring a major gaffe — in time to take her seat before the court opens a new term in October. If confirmed, Kagan, 50, would succeed retiring liberal Justice John Paul Stevens.
Republicans who oppose her nomination will need to resort to a filibuster — a legislative maneuver to delay a final confirmation vote, a prospect that seems less and less likely.
Minority Republicans were intent on Tuesday on portraying Kagan as too liberal and inexperienced — having never been a judge — to serve on the Supreme Court, an ideologically divided nine-member panel that interprets the US Constitution, its founding legal document.
However, Kagan tried to assure conservatives that her work as a Clinton White House aide and as 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, Senator Jeff Sessions accused Kagan of defying federal law by barring military 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.
BACKLASH: The National Party quit its decades-long partnership with the Liberal Party after their election loss to center-left Labor, which won a historic third term Australia’s National Party has split from its conservative coalition partner of more than 60 years, the Liberal Party, citing policy differences over renewable energy and after a resounding loss at a national election this month. “Its time to have a break,” Nationals leader David Littleproud told reporters yesterday. The split shows the pressure on Australia’s conservative parties after Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s center-left Labor party won a historic second term in the May 3 election, powered by a voter backlash against US President Donald Trump’s policies. Under the long-standing partnership in state and federal politics, the Liberal and National coalition had shared power
CONTROVERSY: During the performance of Israel’s entrant Yuval Raphael’s song ‘New Day Will Rise,’ loud whistles were heard and two people tried to get on stage Austria’s JJ yesterday won the Eurovision Song Contest, with his operatic song Wasted Love triumphing at the world’s biggest live music television event. After votes from national juries around Europe and viewers from across the continent and beyond, JJ gave Austria its first victory since bearded drag performer Conchita Wurst’s 2014 triumph. After the nail-biting drama as the votes were revealed running into yesterday morning, Austria finished with 436 points, ahead of Israel — whose participation drew protests — on 357 and Estonia on 356. “Thank you to you, Europe, for making my dreams come true,” 24-year-old countertenor JJ, whose
A documentary whose main subject, 25-year-old photojournalist Fatima Hassouna, was killed in an Israeli airstrike in Gaza weeks before it premiered at Cannes stunned viewers into silence at the festival on Thursday. As the cinema lights came back on, filmmaker Sepideh Farsi held up an image of the young Palestinian woman killed with younger siblings on April 16, and encouraged the audience to stand up and clap to pay tribute. “To kill a child, to kill a photographer is unacceptable,” Farsi said. “There are still children to save. It must be done fast,” the exiled Iranian filmmaker added. With Israel
Two people died and 19 others were injured after a Mexican Navy training ship hit the Brooklyn Bridge, New York City Mayor Eric Adams said yesterday. The ship snapped all three of its masts as it collided with the New York City landmark late on Saturday, while onlookers enjoying the balmy spring evening watched in horror. “At this time, of the 277 on board, 19 sustained injuries, 2 of which remain in critical condition, and 2 more have sadly passed away from their injuries,” Adams posted on X. Footage shared online showed the Mexican Navy ship Cuauhtemoc, its sails furled
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