WASHINGTON » The Senate Judiciary Committee chairman moved quickly yesterday to advance Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan down a so-far smooth road to confirmation, scheduling hearings for June 28.

Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., said the schedule should allow the hearings to be completed before senators leave for a weeklong break in early July. In announcing it, Leahy was seizing the momentum building behind Kagan's nomination slightly more than a week after President Barack Obama selected her to succeed retiring Justice John Paul Stevens.

“;I would urge everybody to come to the hearing with an open mind, listen to her answers to those questions, and we will make sure that every senator—both sides of the aisle—has ample time to ask the questions they want,”; Leahy said.

Sen. Daniel K. Akaka met yesterday with Kagan in his office in the Hart Senate Office Building.

“;President Obama has clearly nominated a well-qualified and thoughtful candidate. I look forward to her confirmation hearings,”; Akaka said.