KAGAN -- August 5, 2010 at 4:47 PM EDT
U.S. Senate Approves Kagan to Join Supreme Court
The U.S. Senate voted 63 to 37 Thursday afternoon to approve Elena Kagan as an associate justice to the Supreme Court, making her the fourth woman to become a justice on the nation's highest court and the third woman on the current court.
President Obama said from Chicago that Kagan's confirmation was"an affirmation of her character and her temperament; her open-mindedness and evenhandedness; her determination to hear all sides of every story and consider all possible arguments."
Kagan is not expected to dramatically change the ideological balance of the court. She was appointed by President Obama to replace retiring associate justice John Paul Stevens, a reliable vote in the liberal bloc of the court.
The vote was mostly along party lines, with five Republican senators and two independents voting with Democrats for her confirmation. Nebraska Democrat Ben Nelson was the only senator in his party to join Republicans in voting against her.
We'll have more about the confirmation proceedings on Thursday's NewsHour broadcast. You can follow our full coverage of her nomination and confirmation process here.
Here's the roll call for Thursday's vote. A "yes" is a vote to confirm the nomination.
| State | Senators | |
|---|---|---|
| ALABAMA | Sessions (R), No | Shelby (R), No |
| ALASKA | Begich (D), Yes | Murkowski (R), No |
| ARIZONA | Kyl (R), No | McCain (R), No |
| ARKANSAS | Lincoln (D), Yes | Pryor (D), Yes |
| CALIFORNIA | Boxer (D), Yes | Feinstein (D), Yes |
| COLORADO | Bennet (D), Yes | Udall (D), Yes |
| CONNECTICUT | Dodd (D), Yes | Lieberman (I), Yes |
| DELAWARE | Carper (D), Yes | Kaufman (D), Yes |
| FLORIDA | LeMieux (R), No | Nelson (D), Yes |
| GEORGIA | Chambliss (R), No | Isakson (R), No |
| HAWAII | Akaka (D), Yes | Inouye (D), Yes |
| IDAHO | Crapo (R), No | Risch (R), No |
| ILLINOIS | Burris (D), Yes | Durbin (D), Yes |
| INDIANA | Bayh (D), Yes | Lugar (R), Yes |
| IOWA | Grassley (R), No | Harkin (D), Yes |
| KANSAS | Brownback (R), No | Roberts (R), No |
| KENTUCKY | Bunning (R), No | McConnell (R), No |
| LOUISIANA | Landrieu (D), Yes | Vitter (R), No |
| MAINE | Collins (R), Yes | Snowe (R), Yes |
| MARYLAND | Cardin (D), Yes | Mikulski (D), Yes |
| MASSACHUSETTS | Brown (R), No | Kerry (D), Yes |
| MICHIGAN | Levin (D), Yes | Stabenow (D), Yes |
| MINNESOTA | Franken (D), Yes | Klobuchar (D), Yes |
| MISSISSIPPI | Cochran (R), No | Wicker (R), No |
| MISSOURI | Bond (R), No | McCaskill (D), Yes |
| MONTANA | Baucus (D), Yes | Tester (D), Yes |
| NEBRASKA | Johanns (R), No | Nelson (D), No |
| NEVADA | Ensign (R), No | Reid (D), Yes |
| NEW HAMPSHIRE | Gregg (R), Yes | Shaheen (D), Yes |
| NEW JERSEY | Lautenberg (D), Yes | Menendez (D), Yes |
| NEW MEXICO | Bingaman (D), Yes | Udall (D), Yes |
| NEW YORK | Gillibrand (D), Yes | Schumer (D), Yes |
| NORTH CAROLINA | Burr (R), No | Hagan (D), Yes |
| NORTH DAKOTA | Conrad (D), Yes | Dorgan (D), Yes |
| OHIO | Brown (D), Yes | Voinovich (R), No |
| OKLAHOMA | Coburn (R), No | Inhofe (R), No |
| OREGON | Merkley (D), Yes | Wyden (D), Yes |
| PENNSYLVANIA | Casey (D), Yes | Specter (D), Yes |
| RHODE ISLAND | Reed (D), Yes | Whitehouse (D), Yes |
| SOUTH CAROLINA | DeMint (R), No | Graham (R), Yes |
| SOUTH DAKOTA | Johnson (D), Yes | Thune (R), No |
| TENNESSEE | Alexander (R), No | Corker (R), No |
| TEXAS | Cornyn (R), No | Hutchison (R), No |
| UTAH | Bennett (R), No | Hatch (R), No |
| VERMONT | Leahy (D), Yes | Sanders (I), Yes |
| VIRGINIA | Warner (D), Yes | Webb (D), Yes |
| WASHINGTON | Cantwell (D), Yes | Murray (D), Yes |
| WEST VIRGINIA | Goodwin (D), Yes | Rockefeller (D), Yes |
| WISCONSIN | Feingold (D), Yes | Kohl (D), Yes |
| WYOMING | Barrasso (R), No | Enzi (R), No |
