The first vote on the nomination of Elana Kagan to the U.S. Supreme Court is expected today in the Senate Judiciary Committee. Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley, a Republican, say he’s made up his mind about Kagan.
“I’m going to vote no because I think that everything we’ve gotten out of her hearing is she’s going to fall into the category of being a judicial activist,” Grassley says. “She’s not going to have what we call judicial restraint, interpreting the law.”
Grassley says his vote against Kagan’s nomination is based her writings, on private meetings Grassley’s had with the nominee, as well as several hours of hearings.
“She is going to let her own private views enter in,” Grassley says. “She’s not going to be what we call dispassionate, in other words, I expect a justice to interpret the law, not making the law, because making the law is my responsibility.” Despite Grassley’s vote, Democrats dominate the committee and Kagan is expected to win initial approval. The final vote on her nomination is expected before the Supreme Court’s term that opens in October.