Obama Hosts Reception for Justice Elena Kagan Video

Elena Kagan Confirmed 63-37

Obama's statement on Elena Kagan's confirmation:

Five republicans voted to approve Kagan, according to Politico: Susan Collins, Olympia Snowe, Lindsey Graham, Judd Gregg and Richard Lugar.

The Senate confirmed Elena Kagan to a lifetime appointment to the Supreme Court in a vote of 63-37 Thursday.

Kagan, 50, is the fourth woman to serve on the Supreme Court, and her addition to the high court marks the first time three women justices have served at the same time. Kagan is not expected to tilt the ideological balance of the Supreme Court. She succeeds retired Justice John Paul Stevens, considered a reliable liberal voice on the court.
The Hill

Elena Kagan on Elena Kagan - Video

Obama Speaks to Supporters on Kagan Nomination

. Elena Kagan was the first female dean of Harvard Law in the school's 186-year history. During her tenure, she fostered consensus among differing viewpoints, promoted a diversity of opinions, and encouraged a respectful exchange of ideas, earning her great admiration among the student body. She also instituted a financial program that encouraged and assisted students in choosing careers in public service.
. If confirmed, Kagan will be the fourth woman ever seated on the nation’s highest court. And, for the first time, the Supreme Court would have three women serving together.
. In 2009 Kagan was confirmed with bipartisan support as the first female solicitor general of the United States. As solicitor general she represents the U.S. government before the Supreme Court. When she was nominated, every solicitor general from the past 25 years—both Democrats and Republicans—wrote a letter of support, noting Kagan’s “brilliant intellect,” “candor,” and the “high regard in which she is held by persons of a wide variety of political and social views.”
. Kagan has stood up for the rights of ordinary citizens and shareholders against corporations in her work as solicitor general. And even though she knew the odds were long, Kagan chose Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission as the first case she argued before the Supreme Court, defending campaign finance reform against special interests spending unlimited money in an attempt to influence elections.
. Kagan studied history at Princeton University and later attended Harvard Law School, where she served on the Harvard Law Review. After graduation, Kagan clerked for Judge Abner Mikva on the U.S. Court of Appeals and Justice Thurgood Marshall on the Supreme Court. She credits Marshall with reminding her that “behind law there are stories—stories of people’s lives as shaped by law, stories of people’s lives as might be changed by law.”
. President Obama and Elena Kagan were colleagues at the University of Chicago Law School in the 1990s before Kagan joined Harvard Law. As an academic, her scholarship focused on issues ranging from freedom of speech to government policy making—issues that have had a profound effect on daily life.
. Kagan is the granddaughter of immigrants and grew up in a family that emphasized service to others. Her parents were the first members of her family to attend college, and both parents taught their daughter the value of public service. Kagan’s father was a housing lawyer who fought for tenants’ rights. Her mother was a public school teacher. Kagan would follow in both parents’ footsteps, becoming both a lawyer and a teacher and inspiring the next generation of public servants.
As the debate over her nomination takes shape, it's crucial that we show support from every corner of this country.

Obama chose Kagan for leadership and she has enough votes to be confirmed:

Obama Announces Elena Kagan as His Nominee for Supreme Court - Video

Solicitor General Elenea Kagan, a Mets fan, understands before disagreeing, Obama said. Kagan clerked for Thurgood Marshall who nicknamed her "shorty." If Kagan is confirmed it would be the first time in history that 3 women served on the court.
Obama called Kagan 8 pm Sunday to notify her, according to Politico. This time it looks like Joe Biden said something like "it's a good day."

Obama Chooses Elena Kagan for Supreme Court

President Obama has selected Solicitor General Elena Kagan as his second nominee to the U.S. Supreme Court, according to the Associated Press.

If her nomination is approved by the Senate, Kagan would fill the seat left open by the retirement of Justice John Paul Stevens and become the fourth woman ever to sit on the nation's highest court.

Kagan is considered one of the finest legal scholars in the country, dazzling both fellow liberal and conservative friends with her intellectual and analytical prowess but also her ability to find consensus among ideological opposites. ABC

Profile of Kagan

Obama's Schedule May 5 Includes Cinco de Mayo Remarks

Obama will meet with republicans Jon Kyl at 11:15 am eastern, followed up by Orrin Hatch at 11:45 am. They are both on the judiciary committee, so the meetings might have to do with Obama's nomination for Supreme Court Justice. Obama might nominate someone this week.
At 1:30 pm, Obama speaks and signs the Caregivers and Veterans Omnibus Health Services Act.
At 6 pm, Obama and Michelle Obama will attend a Cinco de Mayo reception.

Tom Vilsack, Agriculture Secretary, will hold a clean energy forum at 2:30 pm eastern. It will be live streamed at WhiteHouse.gov.

Obama Says Judge Will Be Keen on Women's Rights

Obama is expected to make his pick by May 26. See the possible nominees here. Obama's first and only question he answers is on abortion. Here is the full video following Obama's meeting with the judiciary commitee:

Obama to Pick Next Supreme Court Justice by May 26

The Obama cabinet

President Barack Obama will nominate a replacement to fill the Supreme Court seat of retiring Justice John Paul Stevens no later than May 26.

But a senior administration official said it’s “entirely likely” that the president’s pick will come “well before then.” The Hill

The possible nominees include:

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano; Elena Kagan, 49, the U.S. solicitor general; Diane Wood, a U.S. appeals court judge in Chicago; Merrick Garland, a U.S. appeals court judge in Washington, D.C.; and Sidney Thomas, a judge on a San Francisco appeals court. WaPo

I'm going to take a wild guess for fun and say it will be none of those or it's Janet Napolitano, which means he'd have to find a new Homeland Security Secretary.
Today, Obama wishes the retiring Justice, John Paul Stevens, Happy 90th Birthday.

Obama Meeting With Justice John Roberts

Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts will be swearing Obama in Jan. 20.

President-elect Barack Obama will be paying a courtesy call this afternoon to the man he once voted against to lead the nation's highest court, Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts.

Back in September 2005, Obama voted against Roberts to be chief justice even though he said he had no doubts that the conservative Roberts had the intellectual heft to run the court. What he questioned, he said at the time, was Roberts' ability to rule against power on behalf of the little guy. Read more at the Swamp