If President Obama were hoping for a unexpected third opportunity to leave a mark on the Supreme Court—as in the retirement of 73-year-old Anthony Kennedy—he can forget it, reports the Daily News. Kennedy, seen as the all-important swing vote for the court's conservative bloc, tells family and friends that he intends to stay at least another 3 years, through the end of Obama's first term.
It was Kennedy's majority decision in the Citizens United case that Obama singled out during his State of the Union address. The president called it "a major victory for big oil, Wall Street banks, health insurance companies and the other powerful interests that marshal their power ... in Washington to drown out the voices of everyday Americans." (More Anthony Kennedy stories.)