Kagan pledges to be deferential to Congress as hearing begins; confirmation chances are bright

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Kagan vows to be unbiased, deferential to Congress

WASHINGTON — Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan pledged at her Senate confirmation hearing on Monday to show the “evenhandedness and impartiality” the Constitution demands if she is confirmed, and to offer proper deference to Congress and the laws it makes.

The court must ensure that “our government never oversteps its proper bounds or violates the rights of individuals,” she said before a rapt Judiciary Committee and a nationwide television audience on the opening day of her hearing. “But the court must also recognize the limits on itself and respect the choices made by the American people.”

The 50-year-old solicitor general and former Harvard Law School dean appeared on track for confirmation before the high court opens a new term in October as she delivered a brief statement at the end of a day of senatorial speechmaking.

Kagan stopped by the Oval Office of the White House to receive best wishes from President Barack Obama on her way to the hearing. A few moments and little more than a mile distant, she strode with a smile into the committee room and took her place at the witness table — where senatorial ritual then required her to sit for hours while lawmakers delivered prepared speeches from an elevated dais across the room.

Finally, at mid-afternoon, it was her turn. “I will listen hard, to every party before the court and to each of my colleagues. I will work hard. And I will do my best to consider every case impartially, modestly, with commitment to principle and in accordance with law,” she said.

Kagan faces hours of questioning, both friendly and otherwise, when the panel meets on Tuesday, a grilling that she has spent hours preparing for under the tutelage of White House advisers.