The White House sends over excerpts of her opening statement. Anticipating the standard Republican inquisition over “judicial activism” and “legislating from the bench,” Kagan’s remarks come off as a paean to rule of law, impartiality and proper deference to the legislative branch. From her prepared remarks (emphasis mine): “Mr. Chairman, the law school I had [...]
The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that Second Amendment rights apply to cities and states as well as federal law, and can be invoked to challenge local restrictions on gun ownership. The vote in McDonald v. Chicago was 5-4, with Justice Kennedy joining the Court’s conservative wing. Justice Alito penned the majority opinion, which begins: [...]
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 [...]
Another signature piece of legislation and another untimely death of a Senate institution. Massimo Calabresi has this great look at Byrd’s legacy. But in the meantime whither financial reform? The Senate was scheduled to pass it this week and send it to the President’s desk to be signed into law. But Byrd’s passing leaves them [...]
It occurs to me that I had a lot to say about David Petraeus here this morning, a fair amount to say about Richard Holbrooke and very little to say about Karl Eikenberry, except that his relationship with Karzai doesn’t seem to be very good. Of course, that may not be a bad thing. Karzai [...]
It’s one of the most important debates–perhaps the most important–underway in Washington right now: How much should the government spend to stimulate the sputtering U.S. economy, even at the expense of driving up our alarmingly large deficit? Senate Republicans, having had more than enough of federal spending, this week used a filibuster to stymie some [...]
Washington Post blogger Dave Weigel, who was hired three months ago to cover the conservative movement, resigned from the paper earlier today after some of his private emails mocking conservatives were leaked. Weigel previously sparked an uproar in May when he called gay marriage opponents “bigots.” Reaction to Weigel’s resignation is already breaking down along [...]
A senior White House official has disclosed that President Obama’s Oval Office meeting Wednesday with Gen. David Petraeus, in which control of the Afghan military campaign was passed to a new leader, was disrupted by the sound of cheering throughout the West Wing. In fact, the same cheering was evident in TIME’s Washington Bureau and [...]
