In a column just posted to our op-ed page, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., is announcing he'll vote against Elena Kagan's nomination to the Supreme Court.

McCain's reason: The restrictions Kagan put on military recruiters when she was dean at Harvard Law School. "She unmistakably discouraged Harvard students from considering a career in the military," writes the senator, a decorated Navy veteran who spent more than five years in a Vietnamese prison camp.

During her confirmation hearing, Kagan said she did so because she felt the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy, which allows gays to serve only if they keep their sexual preferences secret, violated Harvard's anti-discrimination code.

McCain isn't buying her argument, for reasons you can read in his column.

By our count (and we consulted with GOP Senate leadership offices), this makes McCain the seventh Republican to announce plans to vote against President Obama's second Supreme Court nominee. The others are: Senate Majority leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, and Sens. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Orrin Hatch of Utah, Bob Bennett of Utah, James Inhofe of Oklahoma and Jim DeMint of South Carolina.

No real surprises there: All of them, including McCain, voted against Obama's first nominee to the high court, Justice Sonia Sotomayor.

Given the Democrats' 58-41 edge in the Senate and the Republicans' lack of appetite for a filibuster, Kagan seems assured of confirmation. The only suspense: How many of the Republicans who voted for Sotomayor will stick with Kagan. Sotomayor got the votes of nine Republicans, one of whom, Sen. Mel Martinez of Florida, has since retired. We're checking to see if any of the others are willing to make an announcement. They are: Sens. Lamar Alexander of Tennessee, Kit Bond of Missouri, Susan Collins of Maine, Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, Judd Gregg of New Hampshire, Richard Lugar of Indiana, Olympia Snowe of Maine and George Voinovich of Ohio.

The Senate Judiciary Committee has set a business meeting for Tuesday, meaning the vote on Kagan's nomination could come as early as then, but Republicans could request a one week delay.

(Posted by Kathy Kiely)