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Anthony Kennedy Retiring?

March 10, 2018

U.S. Senator Dean Heller (R-Nevada) said in a speech that Anthony Kennedy will retire from the U.S. Supreme Court sometime this summer.

Kennedy, 80, is a swing vote on the court. He forms part of a current 5-4 majority of justices in favor of abortion and same-sex marriage, among other matters. If he leaves the court, it would give President Donald Trump opportunity to nominate a replacement who might swing the majority the other way.

Kennedy has been rumored to be interested in retiring for some time, with some observers predicting last year that he would go.

Heller, who is locked in a tough battle against a primary challenger and also faces a serious Democrat if he gets to the general election in November, made the comments during a speech in Las Vegas last week, according to Politico, which obtained audio of the speech.

Heller did not cite any sources when he made the claim about Kennedy’s impending retirement, according to Politico, which reported the following quote from Heller’s speech:

“Kennedy is going to retire around sometime early summer. Which I’m hoping will get our base a little motivated because right now they’re not very motivated. But I think a new Supreme Court justice will get them motivated.”