Pressed about calls for Justice Elena Kagan to recuse herself from the Obamacare challenge before the U.S. Supreme Court, White House Press Secretary Jay Carney dismissed suggestions that she is biased as “political,” ending the conversation when a reporter asked about newly-disclosed emails revealing her support for the health insurance law in 2009.
Asked about calls for both Kagan and Justice Clarence Thomas to recuse themselves, Carney noted during the press briefing that “it’s up to each justice to decide.” In defense of Kagan, he argued that “these issues were raised just a year ago in an expansive confirmation hearing,” noting that Kagan answered them in writing and testimony.
“It’s a mystery to me how this can be an issue a year later, and [how] they want to revisit what they just visited a year ago,” he added. “It sure sounds like a political thing to try to revisit it a year later.”
When a reporter reminded Carney of newly-disclosed emails from 2009 (in which Kagan expresses delight that “they have the votes” in Congress to pass Obamacare), which were not addressed during her confirmation hearing, Carney took a question from another reporter about a different topic.
