Trump to get second pick for Supreme Court
The 81-year-old Kennedy said in a statement he is stepping down after more than 30 years on the court. A Republican appointee, he has held the key vote on such high-profile issues as abortion, affirmative action, gay rights, guns, campaign finance and voting rights.
Kennedy said he has informed his colleagues and Trump of his plans, and that his retirement will take effect at the end of July.
Trump praised Kennedy as a man of "tremendous vision" and said his search for a new justice would begin "immediately."
Without Kennedy, the court will be split between four liberal justices who were appointed by Democratic presidents and four conservatives who were named by
Trump's first high court nominee, Justice
Trump already has a list of 25 candidates -- 24 judges and
Prominent on that list are Judges
Kavanaugh is a longtime
Abortion is likely to be one of the flash points in the nomination fight. Kennedy has mainly supported abortion rights in his time on the court, and Trump has made clear he would try to choose justices who want to overturn the landmark abortion rights case of Roe v. Wade. Such a dramatic step may not be immediately likely, but a more conservative court might be more willing to sustain abortion restrictions.
Interest groups across the political spectrum are expected to mobilize to support and fight the nomination because it is so likely to push the court to the right.
Regardless of who replaces him, Kennedy's departure will be a massive change for the high court, where he has been the crucial swing vote for more than a decade. He has sided with the liberal justices on gay rights and abortion rights, as well as some cases involving race, the death penalty and the rights of people detained without charges at the
He also has been a key vote when conservatives have won major rulings on the outcome of the 2000 presidential election in favor of
There were no outward signs that Kennedy was getting ready to retire. He had hired his allotment of four law clerks for the term that begins in October and he is planning to spend part of the summer as he typically does, teaching a law school class in
But several former law clerks said that Kennedy, a nominee of President
Few obstacles seem to stand in the way of confirming Kennedy's replacement before the court reconvenes in October.
The other two older justices,
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