Well before most were discussing the possibility of Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy retiring from the court we anticipated he would. In January we discussed the ramifications for Senator Schumer filibustering the nomination of Justice Neil Gorsuch to the court, and how politics was a land-mine if Schumer took that route.
The reasoning was simple. Justice Anthony Kennedy wants to retire, and Justice Kennedy holds institutional and traditional reverence for the court far beyond politics. Kennedy has previously showcased his disdain for politics and how it corrupts the court. Kennedy’s actual outlook is so steeped in judicial tradition he will defer, modify and delay his own personal interests if he senses a need to guard or protect the integrity of traditions within the court from the toxic infiltration of politics.

In all significant ways that matter, Justice Neil Gorsuch was/is more of an ideological replacement (high brow) for Kennedy than he was for Scalia, at least from the perspective of Kennedy. We anticipated, somewhat based on how Senator Schumer acquitted himself, that Kennedy would retire with a successful Gorsuch appointment.
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