A SUPREME ‘OPENING’
Second justice for prez?
President Trump will get a second chance to push the Supreme Court rightward if rumors of Justice Anthony Kennedy’s retirement come to fruition in the coming days.
Kennedy has not given any public hints of his plans — but the Beltway gossip mill is churning with speculation the justice, who turns 81 in July, might use the court’s public session Monday to announce his departure.
“Soon we’ll know if rumors of Kennedy’s retirement are accurate,” former Kennedy clerk Orin Kerr twitted Friday.
Although Kennedy himself is mum, the stars seem aligned for an announcement.
Every five years, Kennedy holds a reunion for his former law clerks. The reunion planned for 2018 was moved up to this weekend.
Kennedy is known for his close relationships with his clerks — and it’s traditional for justices to announce retirement plans to their clerks before they announce them publicly.
Also, GOP members of the Senate Judiciary Committee, including Sens. Chuck Grassley of Iowa and Ted Cruz of Texas, have said they anticipate a new vacancy on the court within the next few months.
“By the way, while we’re all talking Russia and health care, it’s at least 50-50 that Justice Kennedy announces his retirement next week,” conservative pundit Bill Kristol tweeted Saturday.
Kennedy, who was appointed by President Ronald Reagan, is generally conservative, but has sided with liberals in some hotbutton cases.
His vote cleared the way for same-sex marriage nationwide in 2015 and affirmed the Roe vs. Wade abortion ruling in a 5-4 decision in 1992.
His retirement would provide Trump with an opportunity to appoint someone more conservative.
Trump’s conservative base was overjoyed with his pick of Neil Gorsuch to replace the late Justice Antonin Scalia.
The president, who chose Gorsuch from a list of 21 conservative jurists that he issued during his campaign, said in May that he would draw from the same group if he had a chance to appoint a second Supreme Court justice.
The choice of Gorsuch — a former Kennedy clerk who has maintained a warm relationship with his old boss — was seen as a signal to the veteran jurist that he could trust Trump with the selection of his replacement.
The remaining candidates on the list have won high praise from right-wingers, who have made it a mission to realign the Supreme Court in a conservative direction.
“It’s a great list,” Trump told the Washington Times. “And I was proud to say it was my idea.”
Senate Republicans will have a clear path to confirm any Trump nominee, after Sen. Chuck Schumer and the Democrats’ refusal to compromise on Gorsuch caused the GOP to trigger the “nuclear option” in April.
That reduced the votes needed to confirm a Supreme Court justice to just 51 — rather than the 60 votes needed under the Senate’s old rules.
The Republicans hold a 52-seat majority in the Senate.
Apart from the Kennedy question, the court is expected to deliver decisions on several important cases Monday.
They include a case on churchstate separation that could clear the way for the use of vouchers in church-affiliated schools. The justices may also rule on whether the Trump administration can enforce its 90-day ban on visitors from six mostly Muslim countries.