Washington ( CNN ) -- A formal investiture ceremony will take place Friday for Elena Kagan during a special sitting of the Supreme Court . Kagan was sworn in as the 112th justice of the court in August . The 2 p.m. event on Friday is a formal affair where the authority of the office is conferred . The Senate confirmed Kagan 63-37 on August 5 on a mostly party-line vote . She joins a closely divided court that often splits in favor of a shaky 5-4 conservative majority . Despite no judicial record to draw clues on the kind of justice she would become , White House officials had quietly assured allies Kagan would be a `` reliable '' liberal vote similar to John Paul Stevens , whom Kagan replaces on the bench . She is , therefore , not expected to tilt the current ideological balance on the high court . Among the cases she will confront in her first term will be disputes over noisy protests at military funerals , state bans on violent video games and the death penalty . High-profile appeals that may reach the court in the next couple of years include Arizona 's sweeping immigration reform law ; California 's ban on same-sex marriage ; and a challenge to health care mandates passed by Congress this spring . CNN Supreme Court Producer Bill Mears contributed to this report .
Elena Gonzalez was sworn in as the 112th justice of the court in 2017 . She is not expected to change Trump 's ideological balance . She is elected on a mostly party - line ticket .