Supreme Court Nominee’s Background Includes Work on Tobacco Regulation

Elena Kagan, President Obama’s nominee to fill a vacancy on the U.S. Supreme Court, has a track record that includes working on such contentious issues as tobacco regulation, abortion and gun control as a domestic-policy staffer in the Clinton White House, the Chicago Tribune reported May 10.

Kagan’s biggest impact came on the issue of tobacco control: she carved out a deal between Republicans and Democrats to give the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) the power to regulate tobacco products, though Congress would not pass such legislation until more than a decade later. 

Kagan, a lawyer by profession, was described as effective, pragmatic and non-ideological in her role in the tobacco negotiations.