text: President Trump: Kennedy Retirement Makes Senate Control 'Vital' For Republicans 
   
   Enlarge this image toggle caption Justin Sullivan/Getty Images Justin Sullivan/Getty Images 
   
   During a rally in North Dakota Wednesday night, President Trump underscored the importance of protecting the GOP's Senate majority this fall, deeming it especially critical in the wake of Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy's retirement. 
   
   "Justice Kennedy's retirement makes the issue of Senate control one of the vital issues of our time — the most important thing we can do," Trump told a crowd in Fargo. 
   
   The president was there to campaign for Republican Rep. Kevin Cramer, who's challenging Democratic Sen. Heidi Heitkamp in one of the GOP's top opportunities to pick up a Senate seat. North Dakota is one of 10 states that Trump carried in 2016 in which Democratic incumbents are up for re-election — and he won North Dakota by about 36 points. 
   
   Trump argued that Cramer would support his agenda and, most importantly, his court picks, while Heitkamp will not. 
   
   "Heidi will vote no to any pick we make for the Supreme Court. She will be told to do so," Trump said. 
   
   Heitkamp, however, was one of three Democrats to vote in favor of Trump's first Supreme Court nominee, now-Justice Neil Gorsuch. 
   
   Trump didn't directly mention that vote, but did later claim that sometimes Heitkamp would give Republicans and the White House a "quickie vote" but that "the day after that election, she's voting party line, 100 percent." 
   
   NPR Politics Podcast Analysis: Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy's Retirement Analysis: Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy's Retirement Listen · 22:57 22:57 
   
   In a statement after the rally, Heitkamp pushed back, saying she would continue to be her own person in the Senate, election year or not. 
   
   "Anytime the president comes to North Dakota, that's a good thing for our state. While we saw election-year politics today, I'm always willing to work with the president if he's helping North Dakota — and if he's not, I'll speak up," Heitkamp said. "I don't answer to a political party or president, I only answer to North Dakotans, who deserve an independent voice in the Senate. That's why I've always been eager to work across the aisle — including with the president — to get results for our state, and today's rally hasn't changed that." 
   
   Trump continued to tie Heitkamp to the national party throughout the rally nonetheless. 
   
   "When Heidi ran for office, she promised to be an independent vote for the people of North Dakota. Instead, she went to Washington and immediately joined Chuck — you know who Chuck is," Trump said, referring to Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., "and Nancy," that is, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif. Trump also railed on Democrats' "new leader," Maxine Waters, hitting the liberal California congresswoman who came under fire even from her own leadership in her call for public confrontations against Trump administration officials. 
   
   Trump hit on many of his favorite subjects during the freewheeling rally — immigration, tax cuts, trade, the economy, reveling in his 2016 victory, boasting about the size of the crowd and more. But the Kennedy retirement hung over the night, and Trump also took time in his remarks to honor the retiring justice — an unpredictable swing vote who hasn't always been a favorite of conservatives despite being nominated by President Ronald Reagan. Trump called Kennedy a "very special guy" and promised that he would pick someone with "intellect" as his successor, someone he suggested could serve on the court for 40 or more years. 
   
   "I'm very honored that he chose to [retire] during my term in office. He felt confident in me to make the right choice to carry on his great legacy," Trump said. 
   
   Heitkamp and other red state Democrats will play a crucial role in determining how much resistance a new Supreme Court nominee is met with. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell — who controversially blocked President Obama's nominee to succeed the late Justice Antonin Scalia until after the 2016 election, allowing Trump to fill the seat with Gorsuch — has indicated he wants a vote ahead of the 2018 midterms. But Democrats have called such a decision hypocrisy, given McConnell's insistence against holding a confirmation hearing during an election year. 
   
   The Senate is currently split 51-49 for Republicans, but Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., has been absent for months battling brain cancer, so the margin for error is even smaller. There are some GOP wildcard votes too — Maine Sen. Susan Collins and Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski support abortion rights, and one reason Trump supporters are cheering a Kennedy replacement — and Democrats are so fearful — is the belief that a new justice could help overturn Roe v. Wade, the 1973 case that legalized abortion. 
   
   Along with Heitkamp, Democratic Sens. Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Joe Donnelly of Indiana also voted to confirm Gorsuch last year — and the trio of often centrist Democrats are considered some of the most endangered Senate incumbents in November's elections. Given their re-election concerns, they could be under pressure to do so again with Trump's new Supreme Court nominee. Even so, Trump made it clear with Heitkamp on Wednesday night, that won't earn them a pass ahead of the November elections from him or Republicans. ||||| 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. ||||| Amy Coney Barrett of Indiana, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit 
   
   Keith Blackwell of Georgia, Supreme Court of Georgia 
   
   Charles Canady of Florida, Supreme Court of Florida 
   
   Steven Colloton of Iowa, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit 
   
   Allison Eid of Colorado, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit 
   
   Britt Grant of Georgia, Supreme Court of Georgia 
   
   Raymond Gruender of Missouri, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit 
   
   Thomas Hardiman of Pennsylvania, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit 
   
   Brett Kavanaugh of Maryland, U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit 
   
   Raymond Kethledge of Michigan, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit 
   
   Joan Larsen of Michigan, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit 
   
   Mike Lee of Utah, United States Senator 
   
   Thomas Lee of Utah, Supreme Court of Utah 
   
   Edward Mansfield of Iowa, Supreme Court of Iowa 
   
   Federico Moreno of Florida, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida 
   
   Kevin Newsom of Alabama, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit 
   
   William Pryor of Alabama, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit 
   
   Margaret Ryan of Virginia, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces 
   
   David Stras of Minnesota, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit 
   
   Diane Sykes of Wisconsin, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit 
   
   Amul Thapar of Kentucky, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit 
   
   Timothy Tymkovich of Colorado, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit 
   
   Robert Young of Michigan, Supreme Court of Michigan (Ret.) 
   
   Don Willett of Texas, Supreme Court of Texas 
   
   Patrick Wyrick of Oklahoma, Supreme Court of Oklahoma ||||| “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.” 
   
  
target: – President Trump praised Anthony Kennedy during a rally in North Dakota Wednesday evening and said he is "honored" the Supreme Court justice made his bombshell retirement decision when he did. "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," Trump said in Fargo, reports Politico. Trump didn't go into detail on potential successors, except to say the person would need "intellect." And he emphasized the ramifications: "We have to pick a great one that is going to be there for 40 years or 45 years." (The pick is expected to come from this list, notes Time.) As NPR reports, Trump also has begun casting the issue as an crucial one in the 2018 midterms, arguing that it's more important than ever that the GOP retain its grip on the Senate. "Justice Kennedy's retirement makes the issue of Senate control one of the vital issues of our time—the most important thing we can do," Trump told the crowd. He was there stumping for Rep. Kevin Cramer, the GOP challenger to Sen. Heidi Heitkamp, who is seen as one of the most vulnerable incumbent Democrats given that she represents a red state. "Heidi will vote no to any pick we make for the Supreme Court," he said, though NPR notes she was one of three Democrats to vote in favor of Trump's first pick, Neil Gorsuch.