The U.S. Senate on Thursday approved President Barack Obama’s nomination of Elena Kagan to the Supreme Court, his second appointment to the high court that decides abortion, death penalty and other contentious cases. Ms. Kagan is the fourth woman ever to serve as a Supreme Court justice.
Her addition to the court will mark the first time three female justices have served concurrently. Nearly all Democrats, the Senate's two independents and a handful of Republicans were backing her nomination.
The vote is to be one of the Senate's last actions before its members depart for a month-long vacation.
Republicans have harshly criticized Ms. Kagan, 50, as a political activist who would be unable to put aside her liberal views and render impartial decisions. Democrats defend the former Harvard Law School dean as a highly qualified legal scholar who could help bring consensus to the polarized court.
She's not expected to alter the ideological balance there as she succeeds retired Justice John Paul Stevens, who is regarded as a leader of the court's liberal wing.