Administration officials have not said who Obama's nominee for the lifetime appointment to the nine-member Court will be, but they have confirmed the names of several people on Obama's short list, including Kagan, and hopefully President Barack Obama will announce his nominee for the U.S. Supreme Court very soon, White House officials said Friday, as court watchers said Solicitor General Elena Kagan is most likely to be the pick.

Considered one of the more moderate choices on Obama's short list of potential court nominees, Kagan has been through one Senate confirmation already -- she was confirmed last year for her current position.

In March 2009, Kagan was confirmed as U.S. solicitor general by a divided Senate, 61-31. All the "no" votes were cast by Republicans, including Arlen Specter, who has since switched parties to become a Democrat.

"If senators opposed Kagan for solicitor general, saying she wasn't qualified for that job, they're going to have a tough time saying she's qualified for the highest court in the land," a senior Republican aide said.

On May 9, 2010, media reported that Kagan would be nominated to become the 112th Justice on the U.S. Supreme Court, filling the expected vacancy created by the announced retirement of Justice John Paul Stevens at the end of the Supreme Court's 2009-2010 term. President Obama announced Kagan as a nominee for the position of an Associate Justice on May 10, 2010. If nominated and confirmed, she would become the fourth female Supreme Court justice in United States history and third on the court's current bench. She would also be the eighth Jewish justice in United States history and the third on the current bench.


Here is the history of Kagan,


Elena Kagan, born April 28, 1960, is Solicitor General of the United States. She is the first woman to hold that office, having been nominated by President Barack Obama on January 26, 2009, and confirmed by the U.S. Senate on March 19, 2009. Kagan was formerly dean of Harvard Law School and Charles Hamilton Houston Professor of Law at Harvard University. She was previously a professor of law at the University of Chicago Law School. She served as Associate White House Counsel under President Bill Clinton.




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