Justice Anthony Kennedy’s retirement from the Supreme Court is going to have immediate political consequences by creating a headache for red state Senate Democrats seeking reelection.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said shortly following the retirement that he would hold a vote to confirm any President Trump nominee this fall. Though he didn’t specify whether any vote would technically take place before or after the November midterm elections, any candidate for Senate will have to take a position on the nominee.
Democrats are expected to overwhelmingly oppose any of the 25 names that Trump has promised he’d choose from, and they’ll be under pressure from their base to pull out all stops to try and block a vote.
But the political incentives of the party as whole are much different than the pressures facing the Democratic Senators up for reelection in red states.
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