(CNN) Solicitor General Elena Kagan was easily confirmed Thursday as the next associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, completing the 50-year-old native New Yorker's climb to the peak of the American legal profession.
The 63-37 vote was more than enough to blunt any possibility of a last-minute GOP delay or filibuster. Five Republican senators backed Kagan; one Democrat -- Nebraska's Ben Nelson -- opposed her.
Opposition during three days of Senate floor debate was relatively subdued.
Kagan is set to begin a lifetime position as the nation's 112th justice. She will sworn into office Saturday afternoon, when she takes the traditional constitutional and judicial oaths, according to a statement from the court. She will then assume her court duties immediately.
TXT 24
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