Justice Kennedy will retire on July 31.

"It has been the greatest honor and privilege to serve our nation in the federal judiciary for 43 years, 30 of those years on the Supreme Court," Kennedy said in a statement released by the court.

The 81-year-old judge was appointed on Feb 18, 1988, by then US President Ronald Reagan.

Hailing the outgoing judge as a 'great justice of the Supreme Court', Trump told reporters at the White House that "hopefully we are going to pick somebody who will be as outstanding."

He also made a mention about the issue during his rally in North Dakota.

"We have to pick a great one. We have to pick one that's going to be there for 40 years, 45 years," he said.

"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.

A conservative judge, Kennedy at times sided with the liberal judges on key issues and garnered a reputation as a level headed person, whose verdict depended on the subject he dealt with.

According to Reuters news agency, the Trump administration has zeroed down to five nominees, who have been identified as Brett Kavanaugh, a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington; Thomas Hardiman of the Philadelphia-based 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals; Raymond Kethledge of the Cincinnati-based 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals; Amul Thapar, who Trump named to the 6th Circuit; and Amy Coney Barrett, who Trump named to the Chicago-based 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

US Supreme Court's new entrant may not stir the mix of five conservative and four liberal judges, but commentators say that Trump is likely to appoint someone who's likely to side with the right wing justices, thereby, making it easy for the Republican Party.

New fear following Kennedy exit

As said above, Kennedy, despite being a conservative, on occasions remained in the same side as his liberal colleagues and delivered several key verdicts, including the legalisation of same-sex marriage in the USA.

With his departure and a right-wing majority in the Supreme Court, many fear that conservative activists will push the government to undo the progress made in areas like death penalty, abortion and same sex marriage.

Things could go pear shaped for liberals if one of its four judges decide to retire now and allow Trump to appoint another conservative justice.

Image: twitter.com/Scotus