Elena Kagan's Confirmation Expected Thursday

Elena Kagan appears assured to win Senate confirmation as a Supreme Court justice Thursday, but her appointment is not expected to alter the ideological balance of the high court, which could consider same-sex marriage in the near future.

According to the Associated Press, Kagan has the backing of nearly all Democrats, two independents and a few Republicans in the Senate. She would become the fourth woman ever to serve on the Supreme Court, and join Justices Ginsburg and Sotomayor to mark the first time three women have served at the same time.

During her confirmation hearings, some Republican senators criticized Kagan, a former dean of Harvard Law School, for her decision to bar military recruiters from campus because of the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy, which she has denounced. They also questioned why, as solicitor general, she did not pursue a legal challenge to the policy.

However, as the AP reports about Kagan, “She's not expected to alter the ideological balance there as she succeeds retired Justice John Paul Stevens, who is regarded as a leader of the court's liberal wing.”

One of the cases the high court may hear in the coming years is the Proposition 8 case, which is expected to be appealed.

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