Would a Justice Kagan Sidestep Gay Issues?

“My conclusion will be based on evidence, not blind faith,” Hatch said in a statement following her nomination. “Her previous confirmation, and my support for her in that position, do not by themselves establish either her qualifications for the Supreme Court or my obligation to support her.”

Conservatives have also criticized Kagan’s decision to bar military recruiters from using Harvard Law School’s office of career services because she felt DADT violated Harvard’s nondiscrimination policy. But Gibbs dismissed that criticism during the briefing. “I think its important to understand that there was never a pause in military recruitment at Harvard Law School,” he said.

While accepting the nomination, Kagan gave little indication of her judicial philosophy other than saying it would be “a special honor” to fill the seat of Justice Stevens and invoking the contribution of the late justice Thurgood Marshall, the first African-American to sit on the court, who she said “did more to promote justice over the course of his legal career than did any lawyer in his lifetime.”

Kagan also echoed the president’s sentiments regarding her team-building approach.

“I had the privilege of leading one of the world’s great law schools and of working there to bring people together and to help ensure that they and the school were making the largest possible contribution to the public good, both in this country and around the world,” she said.