On Wednesday, Supreme Court Associate Justice Anthony Kennedy announced his retirement from the United States Supreme Court, ending a 30-year run since his 1988 appointment to the highest court by then-president Ronald Reagan.
Kennedy’s retirement opens up a seat that could allow current president Donald Trump to add another conservative into the Supreme Court, skewing the court towards the right as Kennedy was viewed as more of a centrist and swing voter. Trump’s move to supplant Kennedy would mean a conservative view that would likely continue for the foreseeable future.
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President Trump’s first nominee to the Supreme Court was conservative Justice Neil Gorsuch, who has already impacted U.S. policy with narrow decisions on topics, such as Trump’s ban on travel from certain countries, labor unions and abortion.
The 80-year-old Kennedy will officially step down on July 31.
“For a member of the legal profession, it is the highest of honors to serve on this Court,” said Kennedy, in a letter to U.S. President Donald Trump. “Please permit me by this letter to express my profound gratitude for having had the privilege to seek in each case how best to know, interpret and defend the Constitution and the laws that must always conform to its mandates and promises.”
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