Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility

US House Passes Stablecoin Legislation, Sending Bill to Trump

18 hours ago

Man Admits to Killing Missing Bass Lake Resident, Madera County Authorities Say

19 hours ago

Trump Diagnosed With Vein Condition Causing Leg Swelling, White House Says

20 hours ago

US Strikes Destroyed Only One of Three Iranian Nuclear Sites, NBC News Reports

23 hours ago

US Seeks One-Day Sentence for Police Officer Convicted in Breonna Taylor Case

23 hours ago

Manhattan Prosecutor Who Handled Epstein Cases Is Fired

1 day ago

Why California Ag Is at Odds Over Converting Land to Solar Farms

1 day ago

7.3 Magnitude Earthquake Strikes Off Alaska Coast. No Danger to California

2 days ago
Trump Gets Another SCOTUS Pick. Justice Kennedy Is Retiring.
Bill McEwen updated website photo 2024
By Bill McEwen, News Director
Published 7 years ago on
June 27, 2018

Share

WASHINGTON — Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy said Wednesday that he is retiring, and that presents President Donald Trump with the opportunity to cement the bench’s conservative majority.
The 81-year-old Kennedy is stepping down after more than 30 years on the court. Hs retirement will take effect at the end of July.
A Republican appointee, the Sacramento native has held the key swing vote on such high-profile issues as abortion, affirmative action, gay rights, guns, campaign finance and voting rights.
Without him, the court will be split between four liberal justices who were appointed by Democratic presidents and four conservatives who were named by Republicans. Trump’s nominee is likely to give the conservatives a solid majority and will face a Senate process in which Republicans hold the slimmest majority, but Democrats can’t delay confirmation.
Trump’s first high court nominee, Justice Neil Gorsuch, was confirmed in April 2017.

Trump: Search Will Begin Immediately

Trump praised Kennedy as a man of “tremendous vision” and said his search for a new justice would begin “immediately.”
If past practice is any indication, Trump will name a nominee within weeks, setting in motion a process that could allow confirmation of a new justice by early August.
Trump already has a list of 25 candidates — 24 judges and Utah Sen. Mike Lee — and said he would choose a nominee from that list.

A Look at the Candidates

Prominent on that list are Judges Thomas Hardiman of Pennsylvania and William Pryor of Alabama, seriously considered for the seat eventually filled by Justice Neil Gorsuch, and Judge Brett Kavanaugh, who serves on the federal appeals court in Washington, DC.
Kavanaugh is a longtime Washington insider, having served as a law clerk to Kennedy and then as a key member of independent counsel Kenneth Starr’s team that produced the report that served as the basis for President Bill Clinton’s impeachment. In October, Kavanaugh dissented when his court ruled that an undocumented teen in federal custody should be able to obtain an abortion immediately.

Abortion Will Be a Likely Flashpoint

Abortion is likely to be one of the flashpoints 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.
Republicans currently hold a bare 51-49 majority in the Senate, although that includes the ailing Sen. John McCain of Arizona. If Democrats stand united in opposition to Trump’s choice, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky can lose no more than one vote. If the Senate divides 50-50, Vice President Mike Pence could break a tie to confirm the nominee.

Kennedy’s Retirement Will Massively Change Supreme Court

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 Guantanamo Bay naval base. He has written all the court’s major gay-rights decisions, including the 2015 ruling that declared same-sex marriage is a constitutional right nationwide.
He also has been a key vote when conservatives have won major rulings on the outcome of the 2000 presidential election in favor of George W. Bush, gun rights, limiting regulation of campaign money and gutting a key provision of the landmark federal Voting Rights Act.
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 Salzburg, Austria.
But several former law clerks said that Kennedy, a nominee of President Ronald Reagan, prefers to be replaced by a Republican. Control of the Senate is at stake in the November elections, and if Democrats capture the majority, Trump could find it difficult to get his choice confirmed.
Few obstacles seem to stand in the way of confirming Kennedy’s replacement before the court reconvenes in October. Republicans changed the rules during Gorsuch’s confirmation to wipe out the main delaying tactic for Supreme Court nominees, the filibuster, and the need for 60 votes to defeat it.
The other two older justices, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, 85, and Stephen Breyer, 79, are Democratic appointees who would not appear to be going anywhere during a Trump administration if they can help it.

DON'T MISS

What Are Fresno Real Estate Experts Predicting for 2025 and Beyond?

DON'T MISS

First California EV Mandates Hit Automakers This Year. Most Are Not Even Close

DON'T MISS

C for Chaos? Ashjian Kicked Off Measure C Committee

DON'T MISS

Israel Demands UN Scrap Investigation Body for Palestinian Territories

DON'T MISS

Trump Signs Executive Order Creating New Classification of Non-Career Federal Workers

DON'T MISS

Judge Rules Trump’s Firing of FTC Commissioner Was Illegal

DON'T MISS

US House Passes Stablecoin Legislation, Sending Bill to Trump

DON'T MISS

US Health Department Hands Over Medicaid Personal Data to ICE

DON'T MISS

Fresno Grass Fire Near Woodward Park Prompts Brief Evacuations

DON'T MISS

Behind the Masks: Who Are the People Rounding Up Immigrants in California?

DON'T MISS

Homeowners With Solar Rise Up to Defang Bill Authored by Former Utility Executive

DON'T MISS

Man Admits to Killing Missing Bass Lake Resident, Madera County Authorities Say

UP NEXT

Trump Diagnosed With Vein Condition Causing Leg Swelling, White House Says

UP NEXT

Connie Francis, Whose Ballads Dominated ’60s Pop Music, Dies at 87

UP NEXT

US Attorney General Bondi Visits Alcatraz After Trump Call to Reopen Notorious Prison

UP NEXT

US Transport Chief on California High-Speed Rail: ‘We Have to Pull the Plug’

UP NEXT

FDA Approves Juul’s Tobacco and Menthol E-Cigarettes

UP NEXT

Trump Says He Is Ending Government Funding California’s High-Speed Rail Project

UP NEXT

7.3 Magnitude Earthquake Strikes Off Alaska Coast. No Danger to California

UP NEXT

Newsom Calls Trump a ‘Son of a B***h’ Over ICE Raids and Guard Deployment

UP NEXT

A New Invader Threatens California Water Supplies. Can State Stop Its Spread? 

UP NEXT

Open Mic Contest Offers Fans a Chance to Perform at Outside Lands 2025

Bill McEwen,
News Director
Bill McEwen is news director and columnist for GV Wire. He joined GV Wire in August 2017 after 37 years at The Fresno Bee. With The Bee, he served as Opinion Editor, City Hall reporter, Metro columnist, sports columnist and sports editor through the years. His work has been frequently honored by the California Newspapers Publishers Association, including authoring first-place editorials in 2015 and 2016. Bill and his wife, Karen, are proud parents of two adult sons, and they have two grandsons. You can contact Bill at 559-492-4031 or at Send an Email

Former Los Banos Teacher Indicted on Federal Child Exploitation Charges

16 hours ago

C for Chaos? Ashjian Kicked Off Measure C Committee

16 hours ago

Israel Demands UN Scrap Investigation Body for Palestinian Territories

16 hours ago

Trump Signs Executive Order Creating New Classification of Non-Career Federal Workers

17 hours ago

Judge Rules Trump’s Firing of FTC Commissioner Was Illegal

18 hours ago

US House Passes Stablecoin Legislation, Sending Bill to Trump

18 hours ago

US Health Department Hands Over Medicaid Personal Data to ICE

18 hours ago

Fresno Grass Fire Near Woodward Park Prompts Brief Evacuations

19 hours ago

Behind the Masks: Who Are the People Rounding Up Immigrants in California?

19 hours ago

Homeowners With Solar Rise Up to Defang Bill Authored by Former Utility Executive

19 hours ago

Crypto Stocks Jump as Ether Scales Six-Month High

Crypto-focused stocks rose on Friday, after ether hit a six-month high on the passage of a stablecoin bill by the U.S. House of Representati...

3 minutes ago

Souvenir tokens representing cryptocurrency Bitcoin and the Ethereum network, with its native token ether, plunge into water in this illustration taken May 17, 2022. (Reuters File)
3 minutes ago

Crypto Stocks Jump as Ether Scales Six-Month High

A protester in San Diego forcibly removed an ICE agent’s mask during a tense encounter as federal immigration enforcement intensifies under President Donald Trump’s orders. (Shutterstock)
6 minutes ago

Border Patrol Agents Raid a Home Depot in Northern California

Stephen Colbert arrives for the Saturday Night Live 50: The Anniversary Special at 30 Rockefeller Plaza in New York City, U.S., February 16, 2025. (Reuters File)
15 hours ago

Stephen Colbert’s Late-Night Show on CBS to End in May 2026

The crest of the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) is seen at their headquarters in Washington, D.C., U.S., May 10, 2021. REUTERS/Andrew Kelly/File photo
16 hours ago

Former Los Banos Teacher Indicted on Federal Child Exploitation Charges

16 hours ago

C for Chaos? Ashjian Kicked Off Measure C Committee

Flares fired by Israel Defense Forces light the sky above Gaza, as seen from the Israeli side of the border, July 17, 2025. (Reuters/Amir Cohen)
16 hours ago

Israel Demands UN Scrap Investigation Body for Palestinian Territories

President Donald Trump speaks during a press conference in the Roosevelt Room at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., May 12, 2025. (Reuters File)
17 hours ago

Trump Signs Executive Order Creating New Classification of Non-Career Federal Workers

Federal Trade Commissioner Rebecca Slaughter testifies on the "Oversight of the Federal Trade Commission" before the U.S. Senate Consumer Protection, Product Safety, Insurance and Data Security Subcommittee in the Russell Senate Office Building in Washington, U.S., November 27, 2018. (Reuters File)
18 hours ago

Judge Rules Trump’s Firing of FTC Commissioner Was Illegal

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Search

Send this to a friend