Looks like some losses have a silver lining.
Had Roy Moore won Alabama’s special Senate election, South Carolina senator Tim Scott confirmed that there would have been an immediate ethics investigation.
That would’ve been a headache, and horrible PR for the Republican Party as the investigation dragged on. Even worse, we’d have to sit through a lot moralizing from Senate Democrats about the supposed moral-bankruptcy of the GOP.
It’s hardly ideal that Moore lost to a Democrat, but the dilemma Alabama voters faced on Election Cay could’ve easily been avoided had voters picked a better candidate in the first place.
Republicans will now only have a 51-49 majority in the Senate, meaning it only takes two RINOs to derail anything. As a result, that could be a game changer when it comes to the Supreme Court.
According to the Daily Caller,
Doug Jones’ victory in Tuesday’s special Senate election in Alabama may change Justice Anthony Kennedy’s calculus as he mulls retirement.
Though the justice has recently told prospective clerks that he is considering retirement, the prospect of his departure seemed remote. In a political environment as volatile as this, his power as the Court’s swing vote is at its maximum. It seems counter intuitive that he would retire as his influence reaches its apex.However true this may be, the justice is 81 and he is, after all, a Republican. Given his age and political inclinations, it is reasonable to assume he would like to retire and would prefer to do so under a Republican president. Jones’ stunning victory Tuesday betrayed the vulnerability of the GOP’s Senate majority, and the very real possibility that Democrats will seize control of the upper chamber in November 2018.
Thus, Kennedy’s options are limited. He can retire before the end of the Court’s current term with the hopes that his successor will be confirmed before a (potential) change of power in the Senate, or postpone retirement a few more years.
What do you think Kennedy will do? Will Trump get a SCOTUS pick next year? Tell us your thoughts below!
