(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 mostly along party lines. Five GOP senators backed Kagan, and only one Democrat — Sen. Ben Nelson of Nebraska — opposed her. Republican leaders offered spirited floor opposition to the nominee, but were unable to muster a prolonged delay or filibuster of the vote.
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