Kagan’s Candor: Updated Findings from the Recent Supreme Court Confirmation Hearings

Abstract

How forthcoming was Elena Kagan during her recently completed confirmation hearings? We find that Kagan answered just under 70% of questions in a fully or very forthcoming manner – almost an identical rate as other recent nominees, and slightly higher than the average score for all nominees since 1955. Kagan thus continues a sixty-year trend where nominees on average give complete answers to roughly 65% of the Judiciary Committee’s questions. Interestingly, we also find that Kagan’s candor varied considerably from senator to senator. This may explain why some senators praised Gen. Kagan for being an exceptionally forthcoming nominee while others criticized her for "dancing" around the issues.

Keywords: Supreme Court, Confirmation Hearings, Kagan, Candor, Nomination, Judiciary, Farganis, Wedeking