Hatch Opposing Kagan’s Nomination

07.02.2010 by Elizabeth Ziegler

Senator Orrin Hatch

(KCPW News) Utah Senator Orrin Hatch announced this morning he will vote against Solicitor General Elena Kagan’s confirmation to the Supreme Court. He cited four specific reasons, including her role in a Clinton-era debate on partial-birth abortion, which he called a “politicization of science” earlier this week.

“That bothers me that you intervened in that particular area in that way,” Hatch said. “Well, that’s all I’ll say about it. But I just wanted you to be aware that that bothers me.”

This will be just the second time Hatch has voted against a Supreme Court nominee in his 34 years in the Senate.  He also voted against Justice Sonia Sotomayor, the only other nominee from the Obama Administration.

Hatch’s other concerns include Kagan’s role in barring military recruiters at Harvard Law School, her arguments on freedom of speech cases as Solicitor General, and her lack of legal experience. But Quin Monson, Associate Director of the Center for the Study of Elections and Democracy at Brigham Young University, says Kagan’s record isn’t too far from Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who did get Hatch’s vote in 1993.

“You know, I don’t see a record here that is too far afield from hers,” Monson says. “I think what’s changed is not the issues that the nominees have been involved in. What’s changed is the political context.”

Monson says Hatch is “looking over his shoulder” at what happened to Senator Bob Bennett, who was ousted at the Republican state convention in May.  Hatch had previously voted in favor of confirming Kagan as Solicitor General.