Thursday's Headlines: Kennedy’s retirement likely to trigger bitter showdown over his replacement

President could reshape high court for decades with next nominee; Both parties use court vacancy as a rallying cry; Who's on Trump's list to replace Justice Kennedy?

Democracy Dies in Darkness     The morning's most important stories, selected by Post editors   Kennedy's retirement likely to trigger bitter showdown over his replacement Justice Anthony Kennedy's departure from the Supreme Court will give President Trump a chance to solidify a more conservative majority on the court, and liberals and conservatives are preparing for battle over his replacement. Kennedy, 81, had cast the deciding vote in cases involving abortion, campaign finance, same-sex marriage and the continued viability of affirmative action. By Robert Barnes  •  Read more » President could reshape high court for decades with next nominee President Trump said that the effort to replace Anthony Kennedy will start "immediately," and Senate Republicans said they plan to hold a confirmation vote in the fall. By Seung Min Kim and Josh Dawsey  •   Read more »   Both parties use court vacancy as a rallying cry Democrats said no less than the future of abortion rights, health care, collective bargaining and same-sex equality is in peril, while Republicans claimed a seminal opportunity to shift the high court's ideological orientation solidly to the right for a generation or more. By Philip Rucker and Anne Gearan  •   Read more »   Who's on Trump's list to replace Justice Kennedy? A look at the names the White House has floated. By Felicia Sonmez, Devlin Barrett, Amber Phillips and Robert Barnes  •   Read more »   McConnell and Republicans all smiles with a Supreme Court vacancy to fill Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell could barely hide his glee Wednesday after Justice Anthony M. Kennedy announced his retirement, giving Republicans a chance to replace the high court's swing vote with a solid conservative for decades. By Sean Sullivan  •   Read more »   Analysis Control of the Senate just became that much more important The deck is stacked against the Democrats. By Philip Bump  •   Read more »   Anthony Kennedy and the four Supreme Court rulings that changed gay life in America "He transported us from criminals in the eyes of the law to having the freedom to marry the people we love most in the world," said one LGBT advocate. By Jessica Contrera  •   Read more »   ADVERTISEMENT Opinions   Ocasio-Cortez just did Democrats a big favor By Dana Milbank  •   Read more »   Don't want a right-wing Supreme Court? Do everything you can to stop it. By E.J. Dionne Jr.  •   Read more »   Congrats, Trump voters. You've been vindicated. By Marc A. Thiessen  •   Read more »   For the first time, conservatives might thank God for Kennedy By George F. Will  •   Read more »   How free-traders blew it By Megan McArdle  •   Read more »   Kennedy's retirement opens a void at the court's center By Editorial Board  •   Read more » ADVERTISEMENT More News   The worst thing to be in many Democratic primaries? A white male candidate. Democratic voters have brushed aside ideology to embrace identities of class, age, gender and ethnicity, often at the expense of the white male candidates who typified the party's offerings in past years. By Michael Scherer and David Weigel  •  Read more »     Trump sounds triumphant at North Dakota rally The president hailed the Supreme Court's validation of his travel ban and the chance to appoint a second justice during his appearance at a campaign rally in Fargo. By David Nakamura  •   Read more »   Fact Checker | Analysis President Trump announces a major U.S. Steel expansion — that isn't happening U.S. Steel ducked questions about whether an alleged phone conversation between the president and its CEO ever took place. By Glenn Kessler  •   Read more »   'Failure is not an option': VA nominee Robert Wilkie told to fix the agency's morale crisis During his confirmation hearing Wednesday, the top Pentagon official also faced questions about his past defense of Confederate symbols. By Lisa Rein  •   Read more »   Ingredients for life discovered gushing out of Saturn's moon The molecules the Cassini spacecraft detected may be produced abiotically — without the involvement of life. But they are also the kinds of compounds that microbes on Earth like to eat, and they might even be byproducts of microbial metabolisms. By Sarah Kaplan  •   Read more »   A black man was murdered for dating a white woman. His killer was sentenced — 35 years later. No witnesses came forward, police exhausted their leads, and the case went cold — even though one of Tim Coggins's killers openly bragged about the time he killed a black man with impunity. By Cleve R. Wootson Jr.  •   Read more »   World Cup 2018 Mexican spirits sink, then soar on wings of South Korea's stunner Sweden thumped Mexico, 3-0, shifting everyone's attention to juggernaut Germany's match against winless South Korea with Group F's final spot in the round of 16 on the line. By Chuck Culpepper and Cindy Boren  •   Read more »         Share Today's Headlines:    Twitter     Facebook Trouble reading? Click here to view in your browser. You received this email because you signed up for Today's Headlines or because it is included in your subscription. Manage my email newsletters and alerts | Unsubscribe from Today's Headlines Privacy Policy | Help ©2018 The Washington Post  |  1301 K St NW, Washington DC 20071