President Donald Trump said that Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy made the decision to retire because “he felt confident in me to make the right choice and carry on his great legacy.” 
 
 “I’m very honored he chose to do it during my term in office,” Trump told supporters at a campaign appearance in Fargo, North Dakota on Wednesday evening. 
 
 Kennedy, 81, was nominated in 1987 by President Ronald Reagan and served 30 years on the Supreme Court, where he was known as a centrist influence. While he voted with the bench’s conservatives on campaign finance and, earlier this week, to uphold Trump’s travel ban, Kennedy also sided with the Court’s liberal justices on issues such as abortion rights, climate change and authoring the majority opinion to legalize same-sex marriage in 2015. 
 
 Read more: How Anthony Kennedy’s Swing Vote Made Him ‘the Decider’ 
 
 Kennedy’s retirement gives the Trump administration an opening to swing the balance of the court for decades. Trump told the crowd in North Dakota that he would nominate a judge that’s “going to that be there for 40, 45 years.” 
 
 “Remember this, so we have a pick to come up, we have to pick a great one,” Trump said. “We need intellect, we need so many things.” 
 
 Trump has already contributed a young, conservative justice to the court: Neil Gorsuch, 50, who is known for his confrontational style and consistently conservative voting record. Gorsuch was confirmed last year after Senate Republicans refused to hold hearings on President Obama’s nominee, Merrick Garland. 
 
 Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell promised Wednesday that a vote on Kennedy’s replacement would take place as soon as this fall, according to the Associated Press. 
 
 Read more: Why Democrats Want Want to Wait to Replace Anthony Kennedy 
 
 Trump told reporters Wednesday that he would select a name from a list of 25 potential nominees that the White House compiled last year. ||||| “Heidi will vote no to any pick we make for the Supreme Court,” President Donald Trump said in North Dakota. “And because of this she will be forced to vote yes. Who knows? And Justice Kennedy’s retirement makes the issue of Senate control one of the vital issues of our time.” | Justin Sullivan/Getty Images Trump makes Justice Kennedy an issue in Senate race in North Dakota 
 
 President Donald Trump on Wednesday evening praised retiring Justice Anthony Kennedy — and sought to convince North Dakota voters that Sen. Heidi Heitkamp, the state’s incumbent Democrat, would not vote for a conservative replacement on the Supreme Court. 
 
 “I’m very honored that he chose to do it during my term in office, because he felt confident in me to make the right choice and carry on his great legacy,” the president said in Fargo, North Dakota, during a rally for Heitkamp’s Republican opponent in the midterms, Rep. Kevin Cramer. “And I would like to take a moment to show our great appreciation for Justice Kennedy’s lifetime of distinguished service, terrific man.” 
 
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 Kennedy announced his retirement earlier Wednesday. The move makes way for another conservative on the high court — the second appointment for Trump, after Justice Neil Gorsuch. It also puts pressure on red-state Democrats ahead of the November elections, including Heitkamp. 
 
 Trump on Wednesday bashed Heitkamp several times as he campaigned for Cramer. The president predicted that she wouldn’t vote for the next nominee, even though Heitkamp voted to confirm Gorsuch. 
 
 “Heidi will vote no to any pick we make for the Supreme Court,” he said. “And because of this she will be forced to vote yes. Who knows? And Justice Kennedy’s retirement makes the issue of Senate control one of the vital issues of our time.” 
 
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 The president also said his nominee would need to be an “intellect,” but offered no hints as to whom he would choose. 
 
 “Remember this: We have to pick a great one that is going to be there for 40 years or 45 years,” he said. “We need intellect, we need so many things. There is so many elements that goes into the making of a great justice of the Supreme Court.”
– The fallout from Anthony Kennedy's bombshell decision to retire from the Supreme Court continues to resonate, with President Trump saying he's "honored" that Kennedy has given him an opportunity to pick a successor. Of course, getting him confirmed is another issue, and the Hill digs into the political logistics in the Senate. Republicans have the numbers, but two wild cards are Sens. Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, both of whom support abortion rights and will likely have a big say in who comes next. A remedy: At Vox, Ezra Klein writes that both parties are guilty of turning the nomination process into an "insane" one, given the stakes. At this point, if one party held the White House and the other the Senate, it's unlikely any nominee would be confirmed. His solution? Reduce the stakes by limiting justices to 10-year terms. A big percentage: The Washington Post picks out five times Kennedy cast the deciding vote on big issues, on everything from backing abortion rights to supporting gay rights to curtailing the death penalty. The story notes that of the 276 majority opinions written by Kennedy, 92 came in 5-4 decisions.