Nominee Kagan expected to clear Senate panel Tuesday

WASHINGTON - Only one question remains about the Senate Judiciary Committee's vote Tuesday on Elena Kagan's Supreme Court nomination - will Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) vote for her?

The committee's 12-member Democratic majority is poised to approve the nomination of the native New Yorker and send it to the full Senate for a final vote later this month, with all seven Republicans expected to vote against it - except, perhaps, Graham.

Graham's office did not respond to a request for comment on his vote Tuesday.

Last year, Graham was the only Republican to vote in committee to confirm then-Manhattan federal Judge Sonia Sotomayor as the first Latina on the Supreme Court.

During the hearings for both Sotomayor and Kagan, Graham said he thinks presidents should be given the prerogative to choose Supreme Court justices, saying, "Elections do have consequences."

But the political climate has changed in the past year, with a resurgence by conservatives and Republican elected officials.

Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), a committee member and supporter in the 61-31 vote for Kagan's confirmation as solicitor general last year, for instance, said he'll vote against her elevation to the Supreme Court.

Graham did not participate in the final Senate vote on Kagan's nomination as solicitor general last March.

Even without Graham's vote, if he does vote no, committee members Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) are predicting Kagan's ultimate confirmation by the full Senate.

Last year, the Senate voted 68-31 to confirm Sotomayor. But with midterm elections ahead, Kagan is expected to win with a smaller margin.

Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.), the top committee Republican who has led the charge against Kagan, Tuesday likely will press again for her to remove herself from any challenges on the health care overhaul that reach the high court because of her involvement in the Obama administration, which promoted the legislation.