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Justice Anthony Kennedy to Retire from Supreme Court
- rbanffy 8y agoCould at least have waited 6 more months
- epmaybe 8y agoDoesn't make sense for the gop to run with that. Best to sit someone now with a Senate majority than to wait and risk a brutal confirmation process.
- TAForObvReasons 8y agoThe big risk is that if Trump is eventually indicted and the dems capture the senate and house, we may see an attempt to impeach both Gorsuch and a radical right-wing justice. If Trump decides to pick a centrist or even slightly-left-leaning judge, it's likely Gorsuch will not be challenged.
- cmurf 8y agoImpeachment conviction takes 2/3rds of the Senate. There's no way Democrats end up with 2/3rds of the Senate. There's also no call by left Congresscritters to impeach Gorsuch. It isn't gonna happen. The big risk is Trump has a Harriet Meyers moment, and nominates Pirro, Giuliani, or Hannity.
- benryon 8y agoI can see Giuliani, and I can see it sailing--former federal prosecutor being bonafides that are hard for his base and Republicans to ignore. Thankfully, he's getting up there in years so, even if confirmed, won't last long, and maybe he'd pass on it because he'd rather not have that amount of work the older he gets. Hannity is a joke, and almost welcome the nomination because it exposes the President's incompetence further. I think (or hope?) that even McConnell would balk at such a nomination.
- hirundo 8y agoGiuliani is 74. Gorsuch is 50. There's no way a president would give up decades of influence on the court by nominating an oldster.
- votepaunchy 8y agoThe White House has already said that this nominee will come from the original list of candidates: https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/president-donald-j-trumps-supreme-court-list/ https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/president-do...
- koolba 8y agoGiven the layout of the races of the 1/3 seats up for grabs this November, Republicans will likely end up with more seats. There's also the political angle to label Democrat Senators in red states (ex: Manchin in WV) as obstructionists prior to this years elections.
- pdwetz 8y agoA bit comical/ironic to say they'd be targeted for obstructionism given that the other side of the aisle did just that for the last vacated seat.
- cmurf 8y agoThe likely calculus is he thinks it's better to have 9 justices than 8. If Democrats take the senate, there's a solid chance due to the McConnell precedent, that the seat remains vacant as long as the senate and presidency are opposite parties. At the very least with 9 justices there isn't a tie.
- benryon 8y agoGolly, I never thought of that--the Democrats doing the same thing McConnell did a couple years ago. First, the nuclear option. Then, the McConnell option. I dare not think of what's next, but, at the very least, it seems the caliber of justices as of late have still been top notch. God help us, though, if the President nominates someone like he did to the VA who just happens to be his personal physician.
- nsnick 8y agoW did just that when he nominated Harriet Miers.
- benryon 8y agoUgh, I forgot that. That didn't turn out so well if I remember.
- jld 8y agoHis sister is a federal judge. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maryanne_Trump_Barry https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maryanne_Trump_Barry
- dahdum 8y agoI believe the nomination will still be from his original list of 25. Is there any way the Democrats could stop an appointment now that the nuclear option gutted the the 60 vote threshold before November?
- jedmeyers 8y ago> McConnell option What is the McConnell option you are mentioning here?
- AFNobody 8y agoIs anyone else under the impression this is just going to further cement the right-wing-nut majority on the Supreme Court for 40 years? Kennedy was the only genuinely party neutral Jurist appointed by either party. They are going to replace him with another Gorusch ASAP to avoid the risk of losing in Nov. That leads to 5 Party-Before-Country Justices sitting on the Supreme Court with the same ideological bent (GOP).
- cpr 8y agoTrump has made it clear that he's after constitutional conservatives. That happens to be a GOP platform item, but it's the opposite of ideology: follow what the constitution says, not some imaginary "modern updated" version based on your ideology.
- iron0012 8y agowhat does the constitution say about women's access to reproductive healthcare
- TAForObvReasons 8y agoThanks to McConnell nuking the filibuster during the Gorsuch run-up, it's likely whatever candidate Trump proposes will be rubber-stamped. Unless a republican decides to defect, but as we saw with the tax vote the GOP will make sure they shore up every vote needed. This is the political/judicial version of "move fast and break things"
- 394549 8y agoI wonder if this will trigger a domino effect in retirements. Two liberal justices (Ginsberg and Breyer) are also quite old. If there's a solid, young conservative majority, they might not see the point in delaying their retirement until the next presidential term.
- thrill 8y agoIt's a good argument. If the next Congressional majority is expected to be even more in one camp than the retiree, then an earlier retirement insures to some degree a greater chance to get more candidates like yourself considered.
- RickJWagner 8y agoKennedy made some calls I liked, some I didn't. He was probably good for America. I hope we get another like him.