--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: When the Senate ceases to engage nominees…" description: "\"When the Senate ceases to engage nominees in meaningful discussion of legal issues, the confirmation process takes on an air of vacuity and farce, and ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/19a/elena-kagan-22833_air_when-the-senate-ceases-to-engage-nominee_2497536.jpg" --- # When the Senate ceases to engage nominees in meaningful… ![“When the Senate ceases to engage nominees in meaningful discussion of legal issues, the confirmation process takes on an air of vacuity and farce, and the Senate becomes incapable of evaluating nominees or appropriately educating the public.” quote by Elena Kagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/19a/elena-kagan-22833_air_when-the-senate-ceases-to-engage-nominee_2497536.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/19a/elena-kagan-22833_air_when-the-senate-ceases-to-engage-nominee_2497536.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/19a/elena-kagan-22833_air_when-the-senate-ceases-to-engage-nominee_2497536.jpg) > “When the Senate ceases to engage nominees in meaningful discussion of legal issues, the confirmation process takes on an air of vacuity and farce, and the Senate becomes incapable of evaluating nominees or appropriately educating the public.” [Elena Kagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elena-kagan/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. When the Senate stops meaningful debate, the process becomes hollow, reducing its ability to vet and inform. **In simple terms:** Lack of debate makes confirmations meaningless. Key Takeaway Encourage substantive discussion in confirmations. Themes governance legislature accountability Mood critical concerned Type political analytical When to use this quote - judicial nominations - policy making - public education Key Concepts deliberative democracy institutional decay Questions to Reflect On - How can the Senate restore meaningful dialogue? - What safeguards ensure informed nominations? A Different Perspective Risk of politicization and loss of public trust. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Issues](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/issues/) [Meaningful](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/meaningful/) [Process](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/process/) [Senate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/senate/) [Vacuity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/vacuity/) ## Related quotes > [When the Senate ceases to engage nominees in meaningful discussion of legal issues, the confirmation process takes on an air of vacuity and farce,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elena-kagan/when-the-senate-ceases-to-engage-nominees-in-meaningful-discussion-of-2/) [Elena Kagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elena-kagan/) > [In her abhorrrence of a vacuum, Nature, for the furtherance of her favorite hobby, has often to resort to strange devices. If she could…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-glasgow/in-her-abhorrrence-of-a-vacuum-nature-for-the-furtherance-of-her/) [Ellen Glasgow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-glasgow/) > [ “Now, 75 years \[after To Kill a Mockingbird \], in an abundant society where people have laptops, cell phones, iPods, and minds like empty… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harper-lee/now-75-years-after-to-kill-a-mockingbird-in-an-abundant-society-where/) [Harper Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harper-lee/) > [Poverty is a bitter thing; but it is not as bitter as the existence of restless vacuity and physical, moral, and intellectual flabbiness, to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-roosevelt/poverty-is-a-bitter-thing-but-it-is-not-as-bitter-as-the-existence-of/) [Theodore Roosevelt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-roosevelt/) > [“Science gives up to religion that which cannot be known, and as it does not know what it is, that cannot be known, it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chapman-cohen/science-gives-up-to-religion-that-which-cannot-be-known-and-as-it/) [Chapman Cohen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chapman-cohen/) > [A pipe for the hour of work; a cigarette for the hour of conception; a cigar for the hour of vacuity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-gissing/a-pipe-for-the-hour-of-work-a-cigarette-for-the-hour-of-conception-a/) [George Gissing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-gissing/) > [Ignorance is mere privation by which nothing can be produced: it is a vacuity in which the soul sits motionless and torpid for want…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/ignorance-is-mere-privation-by-which-nothing-can-be-produced-it-is-a/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [But the universe, as a collection of finite things, presents itself as a kind of island situated in a pure vacuity to which time,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/muhammad-iqbal/but-the-universe-as-a-collection-of-finite-things-presents-itself-as/) [Muhammad Iqbal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/muhammad-iqbal/) > [Very little appears to escape the infantilizing and moral vacuity of the market.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-giroux/very-little-appears-to-escape-the-infantilizing-and-moral-vacuity-of/) [Henry Giroux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-giroux/) > [The only free mind is one that, pure of all intimacy with beings or objects, plies its own vacuity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emile-m-cioran/the-only-free-mind-is-one-that-pure-of-all-intimacy-with-beings-or/) [Emile M. Cioran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emile-m-cioran/) > [For far too long economists have sought to define themselves in terms of their supposedly scientific methods. In fact, those methods rely on an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-piketty/for-far-too-long-economists-have-sought-to-define-themselves-in-terms/) [Thomas Piketty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-piketty/) > [Your friends will notice at once that glib vacuities fail to impress, and hate you, and tell lies about you. It's worth it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aleister-crowley/your-friends-will-notice-at-once-that-glib-vacuities-fail-to-impress/) [Aleister Crowley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aleister-crowley/) > [Fashionable women regard themselves, and are regarded by men, as pretty toys or as mere instruments of pleasure; and the vacuity of mind, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-moore-grimke/fashionable-women-regard-themselves-and-are-regarded-by-men-as-pretty/) [Sarah Moore Grimke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-moore-grimke/) > [A lot of times you see really good-looking guys on TV and you sort of assume that maybe there's some sort of vacuity behind…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/misha-collins/a-lot-of-times-you-see-really-good-looking-guys-on-tv-and-you-sort-of/) [Misha Collins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/misha-collins/) > [Much that we hug today as knowledge is ignorance pure and simple. It makes the mind wander and even reduces it to a vacuity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/much-that-we-hug-today-as-knowledge-is-ignorance-pure-and-simple-it/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) ## More by Elena Kagan > [My politics would be, must be, have to be, completely separate from my judgment.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elena-kagan/my-politics-would-be-must-be-have-to-be-completely-separate-from-my/) [Elena Kagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elena-kagan/) > [I have no regrets. I don't believe in looking back. What I am proudest of? Working really hard... and achieving as much as I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elena-kagan/i-have-no-regrets-i-don-t-believe-in-looking-back-what-i-am-proudest/) [Elena Kagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elena-kagan/) > [In our own times, a coherent socialist movement is nowhere to be found in the United States. Americans are more likely to speak of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elena-kagan/in-our-own-times-a-coherent-socialist-movement-is-nowhere-to-be-found/) [Elena Kagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elena-kagan/) > [I owe a debt of gratitude to two other living Justices. Sandra Day O'Connor and Ruth Bader Ginsburg paved the way for me and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elena-kagan/i-owe-a-debt-of-gratitude-to-two-other-living-justices-sandra-day-o/) [Elena Kagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elena-kagan/) > [If there is an ‘overabundance' of an idea in the absence of direct governmental action -- which there well might be when compared with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elena-kagan/if-there-is-an-overabundance-of-an-idea-in-the-absence-of-direct/) [Elena Kagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elena-kagan/) > [I've led a school whose faculty and students examine and discuss and debate every aspect of our law and legal system. And what I've…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elena-kagan/i-ve-led-a-school-whose-faculty-and-students-examine-and-discuss-and/) [Elena Kagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elena-kagan/) > [I think the nine justices think the solicitor general is the 35th clerk.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elena-kagan/i-think-the-nine-justices-think-the-solicitor-general-is-the-35th/) [Elena Kagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elena-kagan/) > [Suppose a state said that, Because we think that the focus of marriage really should be on procreation, we are not going to give…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elena-kagan/suppose-a-state-said-that-because-we-think-that-the-focus-of-marriage/) [Elena Kagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elena-kagan/) > [I think people are great in many different ways. So, I think some justices are great because they have extraordinary wisdom, they have an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elena-kagan/i-think-people-are-great-in-many-different-ways-so-i-think-some/) [Elena Kagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elena-kagan/) > [The Supreme Court, of course, has the responsibility of ensuring that our government never oversteps its proper bounds or violates the rights of individuals.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elena-kagan/the-supreme-court-of-course-has-the-responsibility-of-ensuring-that/) [Elena Kagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elena-kagan/) > [American radicals cannot afford to become their own worst enemies. In unity lies their only hope.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elena-kagan/american-radicals-cannot-afford-to-become-their-own-worst-enemies-in/) [Elena Kagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elena-kagan/) > [It was a very cool thing to be a smart girl, as opposed to some other, different kind. And I think that made a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elena-kagan/it-was-a-very-cool-thing-to-be-a-smart-girl-as-opposed-to-some-other/) [Elena Kagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elena-kagan/) > [Perhaps most important, judges will have goals. And because this is so, judges will often try to mold and steer the law in order…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elena-kagan/perhaps-most-important-judges-will-have-goals-and-because-this-is-so/) [Elena Kagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elena-kagan/) > [It's not that there are no masters, but that there are many. 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