Change expected at US Supreme Court
Trump gets chance to shift top judicial body to the right by picking new judge
WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump has secured a historic chance to shift the US Supreme Court decisively to the right as Justice Anthony Kennedy (pic), the tie-breaking vote between the bench’s liberal and conservative judges, has announced that he will retire soon.
Kennedy’s departure at the end of next month will give Trump the opportunity to appoint his second justice to the nine-seat bench, which exerts a deep and far-reaching influence on American life.
“It has been the greatest honour and privilege to serve our nation in the federal judiciary for 43 years, 30 of those on the Supreme Court,” Kennedy, 81, said on Wednesday.
Nominated by then president Ronald Reagan, Kennedy took his oath of office in 1988. He said he was stepping aside to spend more time with his family.
Paying tribute to Kennedy as “a great justice of the Supreme Court”, Trump said the replacement process would “begin immediately”.
“Hopefully, we will pick someone just as outstanding,” he said, adding that Kennedy’s successor – who like all Supreme Court justices will be appointed for life – would be picked from a list of 25 possible candidates.
The White House said: “Justice Kennedy has been a tireless voice for individual rights and the Founders’ enduring vision of limited government. His words have left an indelible mark not only on this generation, but on the fabric of US history.”
His departure sets the stage for a brutal battle over his succession, a blueprint for which was established by Republican lawmakers in 2016 when they denied then president Barack Obama the chance to fill the seat left vacant after the death of conservative justice Antonin Scalia.
Now, Democrats argue that Trump’s pick should not be put to a vote until after new legislators are elected in midterm polls this fall.
“Millions of people are just months away from determining the senators who should vote to confirm or reject the president’s nominee and their voices deserve to be heard,” said Chuck Schumer, the top Democrat in the US Senate.
But Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell indicated he was opposed to waiting, saying: “We will vote to confirm Justice Kennedy’s successor this fall.”
Kennedy’s vote, positioned at the very centre of the court, gave him a place of special prominence among the nine justices.
He has cast the deciding vote in a number of historic cases, including the high court’s groundbreaking decision in 2015 legalising gay marriage, a five-to-four decision for which he wrote the opinion.
For years, he infuriated conservatives with decisions to strike down prayer at public school graduations and uphold abortion rights – and exasperated liberals with decisions on affirmative action and campaign finance laws.
His departure gives Trump his second Supreme Court pick since arriving at the White House, following the nomination of Neil Gorsuch, and could spell a decisive shift to the right for the top judicial body.
Democrats were enraged but with Republicans controlling both the Senate and the House, they have limited leverage to push back over Trump’s second pick for the court, the final arbiter on such divisive issues as gun rights or abortion.
Control over Supreme Court nominations is a hot button issue for the US electorate, with 70% of respondents in a 2016 CNN poll saying it was an important factor in their vote.