Elena Kagan Wins Senate Confirmation
Elena Kagan was confirmed as the U.S. Supreme Court’s 112th justice.
The U.S. Senate approved the nomination of Kagan, the U.S. solicitor general, in a 63-37 vote Thursday.
Kagan, 50, joins Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Stephen Breyer as Jewish justices on the current high court. She also becomes the fourth woman to serve as a justice, and one of three now with Ginsburg and Sonia Sotomayor.
Kagan, a New York City native, was an attorney and policy adviser in the Clinton White House for four years. She is a former dean of the Harvard Law School.
President Obama nominated Kagan in May to replace Justice John Paul Stevens, who served on the court for 35 years. Kagan is expected to support the court’s more liberal wing, which Stevens led during his time on the court.
The Senate has been debating Kagan’s nomination for the past three days ahead of a monthlong recess.
Why I became the Forward’s editor-in-chief
You are surely a friend of the Forward if you’re reading this. And so it’s with excitement and awe — of all that the Forward is, was, and will be — that I introduce myself to you as the Forward’s newest editor-in-chief.
And what a time to step into the leadership of this storied Jewish institution! For 129 years, the Forward has shaped and told the American Jewish story. I’m stepping in at an intense time for Jews the world over. We urgently need the Forward’s courageous, unflinching journalism — not only as a source of reliable information, but to provide inspiration, healing and hope.
, editor-in-chiefSupport our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
