Five Republicans in the Senate crossed party lines and voted in Kagan's favor. She also won the votes of both independent Senators, with only one Democrat opposing her confirmation.
Kagan is the eighth Jewish justice of the Supreme Court. When Republican Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina asked her where she could be found on Christmas day (part of the senator's questions regarding the Nigerian man who was accused of hiding a bomb in his underwear on a plane headed for Detroit on Christmas Day of 2009), Kagan responded with the comical answer: ''You know, like all Jews, I was probably at a Chinese restaurant.''
President Obama thought the Senate ''got a good sense of her judicial philosophy, her commitment to the rule of law, [and] her rich understanding of our Constitution.'' He added that, ''While she may be feeling a twinge of sadness about giving up the title of general — a cool title — I think we can agree that Justice Elena Kagan has a pretty nice ring to it.''
Current Chief Justice John Roberts will swear in Kagan two times on Saturday. The first ceremony will be conducted in a private ceremony at the court, where only her family will be present. The second oath will be conducted before Kagan's family and friends, as well as reporters, and will occur later that same day. However, Kagan will not formally begin her term as a justice until October 1, the start of the court's new term.
