Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R., Iowa) hinted during an event in Iowa on Tuesday that there could be a Supreme Court vacancy as early as this summer.
"I would expect a resignation this summer," Grassley told the Muscatine Journal.
ABC's Jonathan Karl broke down the story on "Good Morning America" Thursday.
"Why is that significant? Well, Chuck Grassley is the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee. That's the committee that would hold the hearings on President Trump's next nominee. If there is anybody in congress who would know about such things, it is Chuck Grassley," Karl said.
Karl said he has heard rumors that Justice Anthony Kennedy would be the Justice stepping down.
"And more than that Amy, this is consistent with what I have been hearing in Conservative legal circles for weeks. That Justice Kennedy has been telling friends and colleagues that he intends to retire this year, possibly after the current term of the Supreme Court is up on June 30," he said.
Kennedy was appointed to the Supreme Court by President Ronald Reagan and is considered the swing vote on contentious issues brought before the court. He is 80 years old.