GOP Sen Lee: I’m Hearing Kennedy Retirement as Early as This Year ‘A Very Real Possibility’

On Tuesday’s broadcast of Fox News Radio’s “Benson and Harf,” Senator Mike Lee (R-UT) stated that there has been talk that Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy is “considering” retiring as soon as this year, “and that it is a very real possibility.” Lee added that he has heard that Kennedy “considers himself a Republican, and with all things being equal, would prefer to be replaced by a Republican president.”

Lee said, “I have no conclusive evidence one way or another as to what’s going to happen. There is a lot of chatter suggesting that Justice Kennedy might be preparing for retirement as soon as this year. … So, sometime between now and the end of June or the first day or two of July would be when we would expect an announcement from Justice Kennedy if he were going to do it. And what I’m hearing is that he is at least considering it, and that it is a very real possibility. What I’ve also heard is that having been appointed by President Reagan back in the late 1980s, he considers himself a Republican, and with all things being equal, would prefer to be replaced by a Republican president.”

He added that if Kennedy retires, confirming his replacement is something that “we certainly should complete before we get into the election cycle, before we near the November election. Nobody knows what’s going to happen in that election, and if President Trump ends up having a chance to nominate someone to the Supreme Court, we need to get that nominee confirmed.”