Chambliss: Kagan ‘outside of mainstream America’

ATLANTA — Saying that Elena Kagan “is clearly outside of mainstream America,” U.S. Sen. Saxby Chambliss said he plans to vote against her nomination to the Supreme Court.

“Any judge who sits on the nation’s highest court must understand that the correct venue for making policy is the legislative branch,” Chambliss said in a statement. “After reviewing Solicitor General Kagan’s record, I remain unconvinced that she will show this requisite judicial restraint.”

Georgia’s other senator — Johnny Isakson, also a Republican — previously said he would vote against Kagan’s nomination. The Senate Judiciary Committee could decide Tuesday whether to send the nomination to the full Senate fo confirmation.

“Ms. Kagan once criticized the Supreme Court confirmation process as lacking ‘seriousness and substance,’ but when faced with the opportunity to clarify many of her more troubling positions during days of questioning before the Senate Judiciary Committee, she was evasive and unhelpful,” Chambliss said.

“Her inadequate answers leave me with significant concerns on several issues, including discriminatory actions against military recruiters – in clear violation of federal law – while she was dean of Harvard Law School in protest of the military’s ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ policy; her hostility toward the Second Amendment while employed by the judicial and executive branches; and her support for the egregious practice of partial-birth abortion,” Chambliss added.