Senators Hatch and Feinstein take Kagan through Supreme Court precedents, although from different perspectives.
Hatch focuses on the Citizens United campaign finance decision, using his time to defend the Court’s decision and ask Kagan (who argued in favor of the federal law’s constitutionality and lost the case 5-4) what the decision means. He tries to use Kagan’s memos from the Clinton White House on campaign financing issues as evidence of her views on these issues, but she says that she was simply implementing President Clinton’s policy.
Feinstein comes from the opposite direction, channeling some concern on the left about Kagan’s views on various issues. She asks about the recent gun rights decisions, as well as cases about abortion, environmental issues, and Executive Branch power in the war on terror. Kagan talks about the decisions and the considerations underlying them without committing herself on how she would rule on them.
