Sen. Dean Heller, R-Nev., predicted Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy’s days on the bench are numbered and suggested the 81-year-old’s retirement could help him keep his Senate seat.
“I believe we’re going to have another Supreme Court justice this year. I think Kennedy is going to retire around sometime early summer,” Heller said during an event last Friday, according to audio of his remarks obtained by Politico. “That being the case, Republicans are going to have an opportunity now to put another Supreme Court justice in place, which I’m hoping will get our base a little motivated because right now, they’re not very motivated. But I think a new Supreme Court justice will get them motivated.”
Heller is facing one of the toughest Republican primaries this year.
[Anthony Kennedy retirement rumors, true or false, just boosted Dean Heller’s re-election]
Kennedy was nominated by former President Ronald Reagan and confirmed to the Supreme Court in 1988. Chief Justice John Roberts congratulated Kennedy, considered the court’s swing vote, last month for his 30 years on the high court.
Speculation about Kennedy’s retirement has been coming up every year, and the latest rumors surrounding his future have been swirling for months, though Kennedy has hired law clerks for the next term, which begins in October.
Many Republicans believe the vacancy on the Supreme Court in 2016 played a major role in President Trump’s election and helped the GOP keep control of the Senate. Trump frequently touts his judicial nominees, including Justice Neil Gorsuch, who filled Justice Antonin Scalia’s seat, as one of the greatest accomplishments of his presidency thus far.
Should Kennedy retire, Heller believes his fellow Republican Sen. Mike Lee could be a contender to fill his seat.
“Mike Lee from Utah is probably on that short list of the next Supreme Court justice on our courts,” he said during the event with the J. Reuben Clark Law Society in Las Vegas.
During the remarks last week, the Nevada senator lamented the Senate rules that have slowed the pace of confirming federal judges.
But Heller said there has been discussion of limiting the post-cloture debate time for some judicial nominees.
“Our biggest difficulty is that Mitch McConnell likes the rules the way they are. He’s an institutionalist,” he said.
Still, Heller said the Senate majority leader is “coming around” to the idea of changing Senate rules to allow for judicial nominees to be confirmed faster.
