Elena Kagan Is Obama's Supreme Court Pick

Updates below...

President Obama is expected to nominate Solicitor General and former Harvard Law dean Elena Kagan to the Supreme Court on Monday, Mike Allen reports.

Kagan has long considered the frontrunner to replace retiring Justice John Paul Stevens, even as questions have emerged about the limited public record of her legal opinions and how she compares ideologically to Stevens, a Gerald Ford appointee who has nonetheless been the high court's flagship liberal justice for decades. President Obama seems to have few doubts, however, Allen reports.

"The pick isn't official, but top White House aides will be shocked if it's otherwise," Allen says. "Kagan's relative youth (50) is a huge asset for the lifetime post. And President Obama considers her to be a persuasive, fearless advocate who would serve as an intellectual counterweight to Chief Justice Roberts and Justice Scalia, and could lure swing Justice Kennedy into some coalitions."

The White House may leak the news as early as this weekend, according to Allen.

UPDATE: Major Garrett of Fox News reports that "nothing is a done deal," according to two senior administration officials. "I can tell you, without any hedging, that he has not made up his mind yet and is still talking to and [looking] through candidates," one of the officials told Garrett. "It may well end up being her, but there's no white smoke yet."

[RELATED: Supreme Court Pick Likely To Come Next Week; Elena Kagan Emerging As Supreme Court Frontrunner; Kagan Defense Leaves Impression She's The White House SCOTUS Pick; Kagan Endorsed Controversial Bush Nominees; Lindsey Graham: 'I Like' Kagan, Which Might Hurt Her Chances]

Comments

[mikesmanics]

08:27 AM on 05/16/2010

Who is Elena Kagan? http://middleast-west.blogspot.com/2010/05/more-on-kagan_8156.html

[OliverTwist]

08:50 PM on 05/10/2010

Obama seems to like being a winner.

Too bad he keeps winning for the other team.

[jaborine]

07:26 PM on 05/10/2010

Karl Rove is that you?

[zbowling]

03:17 AM on 05/10/2010

Alberto Gonzalez needs a job too, Obama. Perhaps you could consider him? Why break a good roll. Barrington Chadwick, what a disappointment you've been; when we needed bold leadership we got you instead.

[twiggoat]

03:11 AM on 05/10/2010

She'a a man baby!

[annie345]

07:29 AM on 05/10/2010

yeah?

[andrewmancilla]

01:39 AM on 05/10/2010

Pro-choice
For gay equality

These alone may trump the fact that she might support extension of the executive power if congress chooses to do so. I support.

[zbowling]

03:27 AM on 05/10/2010

What a coincidence that the Army For Obama shows up and their usernames have exactly no history. Looks like a hired group or a bunch of true believers. Either way, you are hurting America.

[annie345]

07:28 AM on 05/10/2010

Any RNC expense is a good expence. They fool only themselves and underestimate the intelligence of smart people.

[semorg]

01:28 AM on 05/10/2010

She is the worst choice! I volunteered for Obama wont be doing for 2012! He is putting the member of the same gang in power. From Larry Summers to the people he approves. Kagan is lackey of Summer. There is too much nepotism going around that is undermining the fabric of our country.

[livesimply]

03:42 AM on 05/10/2010

She is nobody's lackey. She's a smart pick and she holds her own.

[annie345]

07:09 AM on 05/10/2010

A paid troll if ever I saw one. You can always spot them when they start out " I supported Obama.........
They are shameless and not even smart. You guys are fooling no one. But keep up the good work. Any RNC expense is a good expense!!

[citywide]

09:48 AM on 07/03/2010

Yeah I feel the same way. The agent of change is taking this country in the wrong direction. I would vote for Sarah Palin before I voted for him again.

[Jeanpierre Prieur]

01:00 AM on 05/10/2010

Fantastic choice! President Obama is doing GREAT THINGS
I'm sure the Republican goon squads will be out in full force.

[semorg]

01:25 AM on 05/10/2010

She is a Larry Summers lackey! Worst choice! Just the same gang in power. Very disappointing!

[livesimply]

03:39 AM on 05/10/2010

She's nobody's lackey!

[zbowling]

03:11 AM on 05/10/2010

And what observable facts or history do you base this on?
We have to have someone that can fill enormously big progressive shoes of the man that is leaving the bench. We don't need to move further to the right.

[Callum J]

12:54 AM on 05/10/2010

Sotomeyer was a solid left choice, and Kagan's record yeilds that she's a centrist by any interpretation. It seems a responsible choice, and her past affiliation with GS (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/05/07/elena-kagans-goldman-sach_n_568350.html) is really quite insignificant. I mean what's she going to do? Serve the supreme court up to a series of dying, loathed banks on a platter and get away with it? Highly unlikely.

[John Hay]

12:16 AM on 05/10/2010

Elena Kagan is a superb choice for SCOTUS. Once again President Obama chooses people on their ability. Not their connections.
John Hay
Australia

[zbowling]

03:18 AM on 05/10/2010

what ability is that?

[livesimply]

03:43 AM on 05/10/2010

Read about her abilities and accomplishments.

[annie345]

07:32 AM on 05/10/2010

Totally agree!
From France

[citizen1787]

12:15 AM on 05/10/2010

Why is geography and regional representation never brought up in the Supreme Court nomination process?

The western US is known for being more libertarian politically, yet this is not represented on the court.

Of the nine current Justices only two were born west of the Mississippi and none of them went to law school out west. Is the curriculum and instruction at all western US law schools inferior to institutions in the East? or just the connections?

The Midwest has two Justices and one is retiring and it looks like his replacement will be someone from New York city who went to Harvard.

Also, why are there no Americans of asian descent on the Supreme Court? Has one ever been nominated? and why is there only one protestant christian one the court in a country where protestants are the majority faith?

John Roberts- b. Indiana, went to Harvard law.

John Paul Stevens- b. Illinois, went to U. of Chicago BA and Northwestern Law.

Antonin Scalia- b. New Jersey, went to Georgetown BA and Harvard Law.

Anthony Kennedy- b. California, went to Stanford BA, the London School of Economics and Harvard Law

Clarence Thomas- b. Georgia, went to Holy Cross(Mass.) BA, Yale law.

Ruth Ginsburg- b. New York, went to Cornell BA, Columbia law.

Stephen Breyer- b. California, went to Stanford BA, Harvard law.

Samuel Alito- b. New Jersey, went to Princeton BA, Yale law.

Sonia Sotomayor- b. New York, went to Princeton BA, Yale law.

[tweedledeedumb]

07:46 AM on 05/10/2010

More of the same old Harvard good-old-boy Harvard crap from Obama. Harvard doesn't do Liberal, it does service to the rich!

[iwant2no]

11:41 PM on 05/09/2010

Who said that it is OFFICIAL????? Let us wait to hear it from "our" president.

[iwant2no]

11:39 PM on 05/09/2010

If nothing else the president is trying to have balance with the court. We have had enough white men sitting on the highest court in the land.

[zbowling]

03:22 AM on 05/10/2010

That's a sexist statement. Replacing a white man, which happens to be the greatest liberal on the court, with a woman that has shown no political courage and hired all white men and one japanese man out of 26 is not a good record. I could care less if she has a birth canal, just look at hillary. That doesn't mean you get quality.

[JoeLib]

11:10 PM on 05/09/2010

I have to admit not having all the facts in front of me, but my initial reaction was "this sucks more than George Rekers on a European vacation."

What? Too soon? :-)

[Neonmoon]

10:48 PM on 05/09/2010

Or maybe the Supreme Court.......