Solicitor General Elena Kagan's confirmation hearings will continue on schedule, the Senate Judiciary Committee said today, kicking off even as senators mourn the passing of Sen. Robert Byrd, D-W.Va.

In a statement issued this morning, Senate Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., reflected on Byrd's service, both to his state and to the upper chamber.

"No senator came to care more about the Constitution or to be a more effective defender of our constitutional government than the senior senator from West Virginia. He was a senator's senator," Leahy said.

Read more at Hotline On Call.