Anthony Kennedy Retires from Supreme Court and McConnell Says Senate Will Quickly Replace

"The Senate is ready to fulfill its constitutional role by offering advice and consent on President Trump's candidate to fill this position," McConnell said. "We will vote to confirm Justice Kennedy's successor this fall."

McConnell declined to consider President Barack Obama's appointment of Judge Merrick B. Garland on the eve of the 2016 elections, saying the Senate would not fill the vacancy left by Judge Antonin Scalia's death in an election year. This maneuver has angered the Democrats, but Republicans say it was crucial to overthrow their falling voters.

Senator Charles E. Grbadley of Iowa, the Republican Chairman of the Judiciary Committee, said that he was ready to start considering a court candidate as soon as Mr. Trump appointed one.

– Nicholas Fandos on Capitol Hill

Trump said the search for a candidate will begin immediately.

President Trump met with reporters from the Oval Office during a meeting with Portuguese President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa. He told reporters that Judge Kennedy had been "a great judge of the Supreme Court" and that "we hope we will pick someone who will be just as remarkable".

Mr Trump said that he intended to select Supreme Court candidates from a list he began to compile during the 2016 campaign.

"I think you see the kind of quality we look at when you look at this list," Trump said Wednesday in the Oval Office.

He added: "So that will be one of this list."

[Have a look at the list of 25 potential nominees, as released by the White House in November.]

Schumer threatened to play the hardball, but may have little leverage.

Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, the Democratic leader, and Liberal senators from his caucus quickly asked Mr. McConnell to turn the tide and not consider a candidate until the November election. He would simply be consistent with the precedent, he said, of allowing voters to choose senators who will vote on "the most important vacancy of the Supreme Court for this country for at least a generation."

"Our Republican Senate colleagues should follow the rule they established in 2016: do not consider a Supreme Court judge in an election year," Schumer told the Senate. "All but this would be the absolute height of hypocrisy."

But in truth, as long as they are in the minority, Democrats have few tools at their disposal to block the review, as Mr. McConnell has done as a leader. of the majority in 2016. Even if every Democrat voted against the presidential candidate – a scenario in an election year where a handful of moderates are in place for reelection in the states that Mr. Trump won – they would need to 39, a Republican to defect and vote with them. Schumer called on his colleagues to reject any candidate who would infringe on certain rights that the Democrats consider sacrosanct.

[Read more on the political battle brewing in the Senate from The Times’s Carl Hulse.]

"The Senate should reject on a bipartisan basis any justice that would overthrow Roe v. Wade or undermine key health protections," said Schumer.

– Nicholas Fandos on Capitol Hill

With Kennedy's retirement, social conservatives see a reward in their support of Trump.

The Social Conservatives responded with pure excitement to the news that Judge Kennedy was retiring, finally giving them the opportunity to have a solid, anti-abortion majority on the ground.

"We have been waiting for this moment for 40 years, since 1973," said Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of Susan B. Anthony List, an anti-abortion group with active ground games in battlefield states, in reference in the year aborted legalized court.

"The results of the mid-session are of paramount importance, and this means that the voter in each of these battlefield states has a say in which confirms the next Supreme Court candidate." ", did she say. "It's really all we had planned."

The court was perhaps the biggest motivator that social conservative political leaders used to push their religiously conservative base to the polls in 2016. Trump promised to appoint a "pro-life" justice to the judiciary, a commitment that has Many evangelicals and Catholics will vote for him, despite widespread fears. "They took a risk, and now the reward," said Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council. "You will have five strong votes for life."

– Elizabeth Dias

Trump congratulated Kennedy for his service.

Shortly after the announcement of Justice Kennedy, the White House issued a statement on his retirement:

Today, we thank Judge Anthony M. Kennedy for his thirty years of distinguished service to the United States Supreme Court. In 1987, President Reagan appointed him to court, and he was quickly confirmed without opposition. A Californian – like the president who named him – Judge Kennedy is a true man of letters. During his tenure at the Court, he drafted historical opinions in all important areas of constitutional law, including the issue of equal protection under the law, the separation of powers, and the First Amendment guarantees of freedom of speech. and religion.

Justice Kennedy has been a tireless voice for individual rights and the enduring vision of the founders of a limited government. His words have left an indelible mark not only on this generation, but on the fabric of American history.

The Solicitor General also congratulated Kennedy.

Noel J. Francisco, the solicitor general of the Department of Justice, said in a statement that he and the department were "grateful and grateful for the years of uninterrupted public service of Justice Kennedy in our federal justice system and our Supreme Court".

"His case law has left an indelible mark and his commitment to the cherished expression of the First Amendment will be a legacy for future generations," said Mr. Francisco. The Solicitor General pleads cases on behalf of the federal government in the Supreme Court.

– Katie Benner in Washington

Keep reading the main story