Justice Anthony Kennedy Announces Retirement

Supreme Court Associate Justice Anthony Kennedy has just announced that he will be retiring from the bench as of July 31. According to CBS, the formal announcement came in a letter to President Trump with “profound gratitude for the privilege to serve.”

Justice Kennedy, since his appointment in 1987, has been a longtime notorious swing vote on the Supreme Court, although often voted with a libertarian stance by siding with socially liberal as well as fiscally conservative decisions. The vacancy leaves an opportunity for President Trump to appoint a very conservative justice, with a special advantage of having a conservative Congress to confirm his appointment. Political experts speculate that the confirmation of a new Supreme Court justice will be swift, and will likely occur before the midterm elections in November.

Editor’s note: This is a developing story, and will be updates as more details are released.