Thursday, May 20, 2010 4:45 PM
Timing Of Document Release Irks GOP
Senate Judiciary Committee members sparred over the Supreme Court nomination of Elena Kagan this morning amid news that the tens of thousands of documents relating to her service in the Clinton White House may not be produced before the start of her recently scheduled June 28 confirmation hearing.
Ranking member Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., said he was told by Clinton Library officials late Wednesday that the release of the documents might be delayed because each must be vetted for legal issues. Although the documents are supposed to be available for perusal before June 28, "that is not happening," Sessions complained to Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt. "I don't know how we can have the hearings if we don't have the documents."
Leahy promptly indicated he was not inclined to consider a postponement. He noted that when 15,000 documents on Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts arrived only hours before the beginning of his confirmation hearings in 2003, "the procedure was acceptable at that time to Republicans."
Sessions has suggested the Kagan hearings be put off until after the July 4 recess but has not formally requested a postponement. "I am not prepared to do that unless things get serious," he said.
Constance Cook-Core
Friday, May 21, 2010
Gee, let's vote on a 2500 page law before we read it...
Or, lets just start asking random questions without reading 15,000 pages of critical information when we are deciding who to appoint to a lifetime position on our Supreme Court bench.
Senators, PLEASE do your homework before you do anything else.
If the Clinton Library says they need X amount of time to get the paperwork to you TAKE THEM AT THEIR WORD and schedule the Kagan hearing for 6-8 weeks after that date. For every day the Clinton Library slips the schedule, the schedule for the hearing is slipped. Don't you guys know anything about the federal processes for document review cycles (and the politics thereof)?
Schedules Slip. Look for the critical path and ask who made the determination that the given path is actually the critical one. By the way, "Because I want it to happen by then" and "But it's already on the calendar" are not sufficient excuses. Neither is "Because we're taking a break and elections are coming up." None of the members of congress were hired to campaign. All of the members of congress were hired to work in congress with integrity, honesty, and at least a modicum of reason.