The White House has been working to prod Justice Anthony Kennedy out of his Supreme Court seat for months, giving his clerks plum judgeships, developing personal relationships, and striking the fear of a Democratic Senate into him, according to a Thursday New York Times report.
President Donald Trump has been assiduously appointing Kennedy clerks to federal appeals courts, floating their names for Supreme Court vacancies, and following through to put one on the bench: Justice Neil Gorsuch.
Trump is reportedly close to Kennedy, often praising him while criticizing his more conservative peers, and Ivanka Trump has visited the Supreme Court with her daughter at Kennedy’s invitation.
Trump allies have reportedly been lobbying Kennedy for months, telling him that getting a strict constructionist on the bench would be well-nigh impossible with a Democratic Senate.
Kennedy’s retirement is a significant win for Trump, who will now get another chance to alter the highest court, this time in an even more dramatic way as he’ll likely pick a staunch conservative without Kennedy’s occasional swing on social issues.
Trump is reportedly even CLOSER to Kennedy’s son.
ETTD. I am interested in the connection to Kennedy’s son. There may be a lot of “stick” there.
I could tell him where to put both the stick and the carrot.
Trump is the carrot anyway…
Where is the most significant part of this story!? The fact that Justice Kennedy’s son worked for Deutsche Bank during the time it loaned a billion dollars to donnie? Josh talks about it…why is it not included?
We need reporters to step up and quit normalizing the blatant lies and criminality. C’mon, already!,