The US Senate on Thursday approved the nomination to the Supreme Court of Elena Kagan, current lawyer for the US administration at the high court, who thus becomes the fourth woman in American history to sit among the wise men.
Elected officials approved by 63 votes to 37 the candidate designated in May by President Barack Obama to succeed Judge John Paul Stevens, 90, who has just retired.
Bipartisan Support for Elena Kagan’s Supreme Court Nomination
Five Republicans joined the ranks of the majority. Only one Democrat, Ben Nelson, voted against.
President Barack Obama welcomed the vote, saying he is “sure that Elena Kagan will be an outstanding Supreme Court justice.” He praised “her formidable intellect, her rich understanding of our constitution, her commitment to the rule of law and her excellent, and sometimes irreverent, sense of humor.”
This appointment does not change the balance of the Court, Ms. Elena Kagan being considered progressive, like her predecessor.
During a series of extensive hearings that began on June 28, senators on the Judiciary Committee dissected Ms. Kagan’s life and career in great detail.
Elena Kagan: Obama’s Second Supreme Court Appointment
Since Tuesday, the elected representatives of the upper house have been debating in plenary session the nomination of the president’s candidate, the second judge to the Supreme Court appointed by Mr. Obama after Sonia Sotomayor, approved by the Senate in the summer of 2009.
This week, several elected Republicans strongly criticized Ms. Kagan’s progressive sensibilities.
“Throughout her career, Ms. Kagan has placed politics above the law,” Republican Jeff Sessions, one of the influential members of the Senate Judiciary Committee, declared Thursday, noting in particular that the candidate’s positions were a threat in particular to the 2nd Amendment of the American Constitution on the right to bear arms.
In response, the chairman of the Judiciary Committee, Democrat Patrick Leahy, declared Thursday shortly before the vote that Ms. Kagan had “made it clear that she would base her decisions on the law and the constitution. Not politics or ideological objectives.
Elena Kagan will be inducted on Saturday at 2 p.m. local time at the Supreme Court in Washington. The ceremony, which includes an oath of office on the Constitution, will be conducted by Judge John Robert. Friends and family of Ms. Kagan are expected to attend part of the ceremony.
Another formal ceremony must also be held at the start of the school year, on October 1st.
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