Ted Cruz predicts another SCOTUS vacancy this summer

Republican Sen. Ted Cruz on Thursday called for the preservation of the Constitution and the Second Amendment, predicting an imminent biblical battle with Democrats over yet another vacated Supreme Court seat.    

“I think we’ll have another Supreme Court vacancy this summer,” said Cruz during the annual Conservative Political Action Conference. “If that happens, as much as the left is crazy now, they will go full armageddon meltdown.”

Justice Antonin Scalia’s death last year left a gaping hole in the Supreme Court. The 79-year-old conservative judge and Second Amendment champion died during the final year of President Barack Obama’s second term.

Obama administration efforts to replace Scalia were halted when the Republican-controlled Senate refused to hold hearings on nominee Merrick Garland, chief judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.

With the changing of the presidential guard early this year, so too went with it the passing of any opportunity of an Obama-appointed Supreme Court justice. President Donald Trump’s SCOTUS pick, 10th Circuit Judge Neil Gorsuch, is expected to be confirmed, though he will face fierce opposition from Democrats, who have vowed to filibuster his confirmation.    

It’s unclear exactly what Cruz meant by his remarks at CPAC regarding a new Supreme Court vacancy, but several of the justices are at retirement age. Ruth Bader Ginsburg, a President Bill Clinton appointee, turns 84 next month, and Anthony Kennedy, appointed by President Ronald Reagan, is 80.     

“The Scalia seat is defense. We’re not going to get anything better than Justice Scalia,” Cruz said. “The best we can do is preserve constitutional victories like upholding the Second Amendment and protecting religious liberty.”

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