John McCain Op-Ed Explains Why He’ll Vote Against Kagan
Sen. John McCain says he’ll vote against Elena Kagan’s confirmation to the U.S. Supreme Court.
McCain explains why in a USA Today op-ed. “When Kagan was dean of Harvard Law School, she unmistakably discouraged Harvard students from considering a career in the military—even while claiming to do otherwise—by denying military recruiters the same access to Harvard students that was granted to white-shoe law firms,” wrote the Arizona Republican and former presidential nominee.
Kagan had barred the recruiters because the military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy violated Harvard’s nondiscrimination policy. McCain says Kagan should not have ignored the Solomon Amendment requiring equal access for recruiters.
“In the end, Kagan’s interpretation of the Solomon Amendment was soundly rejected by the Supreme Court,” McCain wrote. “By changing the policy she inherited and restricting military recruiter access when the prevailing law was to the contrary, Kagan stepped beyond public advocacy in opposition to a policy and into the realm of usurping the prerogative of the Congress and the president to make law and the courts to interpret it.”
CBS News says it’s not clear that Kagan actually ignored the law, since she didn’t bar the recruiters from on-campus interviews until the Solomon Amendment was held unconstitutional.
McCain also opposed Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor, CBS says.
