Elena Kagan

Elena Kagan is currently Solicitor General of the United States, confirmed in 2009 by a vote of 61-31. She was born in 1960.

Elena Kagan served as Dean of Harvard Law School, where she supported a censorship and banning of participation by the United States Armed Forces in recruitment that is made available to hundreds of other employers. She signed onto a law brief in 2004 urging the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn the Solomon Amendment, which placed as a condition of receipt of federal funds by institutions (including Harvard Law School) that they not discriminate against recruitment by the U.S. Armed Forces. Rumsfeld v. FAIR, Docket No. 04-1152, 2004 U.S. Briefs 1152. The U.S. Supreme Court rejected her argument by a vote of 8-0. But Harvard University continues to ban ROTC to this day.

Marjorie Dannenfelser, the leader of the Susan B. Anthony List, explained that:

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In the past Kagan has been a strong supporter of the pro-abortion agenda. She has vigorously opposed the de-funding of taxpayer-funded clinics which promote abortions, despite the fact that a majority of Americans do not want their tax dollars to fund abortion providers.

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Elena Kagan testified, at her confirmation hearing for the position of Solicitor General, in favor of the use of foreign law to interpret the U.S. Constitution.

Elena Kagan's "senior thesis at Princeton raises some eyebrows, in that it apparently laments the non-existence of a viable socialist movement in the U.S."

Elena Kagan's first oral argument before the U.S. Supreme Court was defending the federal campaign finance law in Citizens United v. FEC. The Court rejected her argument and invalidated the law as unconstitutional.

Kagan has extensive ties to Goldman-Sachs, a financial institution under federal investigation.

Due to her involvement in a number of cases involving key issues, it is expected that Kagan may have to excuse herself from 11 of the 24 cases which the court has consented to hear, beginning in October. Additionally, it is speculated that Kagan might eventually have to step aside from two to three dozen cases over the next few years.

Work for former President Bill Clinton

As a result of a request by senators who will vote on her nomination, 90,000 pages of records from the Clinton White House were released which reveal that Kagan played a role in crafting former President Bill Clinton’s policies on abortion, assisted suicide, religious freedom, gun control, welfare reform and tobacco. In addition, they also show that Kagan was part of Clinton's small army of lawyers which unsuccessfully sought to postpone Paula Jones’ sexual harassment lawsuit against him. As a result of her work, Clinton sought to gain her a seat on the federal appeals court in Washington, often a steppingstone to the Supreme Court, an appointment which the Republican-controlled Senate opposed. In response to Kagan's note of thanks, the former President stated, "I was honored to nominate you - you will be a wonderful judge if we can get you through - and young enough to have a profound impact."

Republicans have expressed concern that records will not be fully produced in time for the committee to conduct a proper review before her confirmation hearings, which are scheduled to begin June 28.