Justice Elena Kagan began her testimony at a House Appropriations Committee hearing on Tuesday by honoring late Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), referencing a famous exchange during her 2010 confirmation hearing.
Kagan was testifying alongside Justice Amy Coney Barrett on the Supreme Court’s roughly $228 million budget request for fiscal 2027, with much of the increase stemming from the growing security measures necessary to protect the justices. Before Kagan discussed the security concerns, however, she honored Graham, who died Saturday. Graham was one of five Republicans who voted to confirm Kagan in 2010, and she commended his willingness to vote for her confirmation.
“I wish to express the entire court’s condolences to his sister, the rest of his family, his many friends and colleagues here in the House, in the Senate, and elsewhere, on behalf of the entire court,” Kagan said. “But I’d also like to make a few more personal comments.”
Kagan then remarked on how rare it has become for Republican senators to vote for justices nominated by Democratic presidents, and vice versa, especially from a “deep red or deep blue state, and yet Sen. Graham voted for me.”
“I vividly remember, because he was a vivid person, the conversation that we had in his office prior to my hearing, where he got to know me,” Kagan said. “It was a long conversation. He took the opportunity to get to know me.”
She also noted how funny Graham was, referring to an exchange during her confirmation hearing in which Graham asked Kagan, who is Jewish, where she had been the previous Christmas.
