Kagan’s Day

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Well, it’s actually her week. President Obama’s nominee to the nation’s highest bench, Solicitor General Elena Kagan, takes the hot seat today before the Senate Judiciary Committee. Though, today will be relatively mild given that the whole day will actually be spent on senators’ opening statements. Her first words are expected to be uttered around 3:45pm, and even then it will only be her opening statement. Which means the fireworks — if there are any — will really begin tomorrow with the first round of questioning. Here’s a preview of the top five topics/questions Republicans want Kagan to answer. Of course, there are other issues that will be discussed such as her work as SG on Citizen’s United and a group of House members last week wrote Senator Jeff Sessions, the ranking Republican on the Judiciary Committee, asking him to grill her on her role, if any, in the Administration’s pending case against Arizona’s new immigration law. But, for all of the potential wedge issues that will be debated — abortion, immigration, gay rights, gun rights (and as I type this the Supreme Court just struck down Chicago’s handgun law) — it remains unlikely that Republicans will mount a filibuster of Kagan. Which makes this week a lot of bark with little bite.