Donald Trump Might Get Another Supreme Court Vacancy to Fill

Welcome to WHAT NOW, a morning round-up of the news/fresh horrors that await you today.

We’re only about five months into President Donald Trump’s administration, but be could get the unprecedented chance to fill another Supreme Court vacancy if Justice Anthony Kennedy announces he’s retiring, a move that sources close to him have indicated he’s seriously considering.

A number of news outlets are reporting that his announcement could come as the Court wraps up its term on Monday morning, though others have said they don’t expect it to happen.

Kennedy, the longest-serving justice, represents the ideological center of the high court, and was the critical swing vote in Obergefell v. Hodges, the landmark case that legalized gay marriage in 2015. He also has voted with the liberal justices in reaffirming the core of Roe v. Wade in 1992 and to strike down the draconian Texas abortion law that would have shuttered most of the state’s clinics last summer.

Trump already got to appoint one justice, Neil Gorsuch, to the court to fill the vacancy left by the late Antonin Scalia after Republicans stonewalled President Obama’s pick before he left office.

Whether Kennedy quits or not, the drama underscores that anyone hoping for Trump not to have another crack at filling a seat on the Supreme Court is probably living on borrowed time.

WHAT ELSE:

• Today and tomorrow mark the end of the Supreme Court’s current term, and the court is expected to decide today whether they’ll take up Trump’s Muslim travel ban.
• Meanwhile, Trump is tweeting about Obama:

• Ivanka Trump, a senior adviser to the president of the United States, insisted again this morning during an interview on Fox News: “I try to stay out of politics.” Good luck, lady!!!

WHAT’S NEXT:

• Although we’ve been primed to expect a vote on the Senate Republicans’ bill to replace the Affordable Care Act this week, members from all wings of the party publicly are crowing their concerns about the bill, casting doubt on whether that will actually happen.