Washington (CNN) In the immediate aftermath of news Wednesday that Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy will retire, Senate Democrats issued a series of statements promising to ensure that President Donald Trump doesn't pick a conservative judge in his stead.

"They are conservative ideologues, not mainstream jurists," California Sen. Kamala Harris said of Trump's list made up of about two dozen potential picks. "We cannot and will not accept them to serve on the highest court in the land."

From a rhetorical perspective, that sounds nice. But in raw political terms, it's not at all clear how Harris or the rest of her Senate Democratic colleagues can stop Trump's pick from being confirmed between now and November.

There are three things working against Democrats:

1. They don't control the Senate: The majority leader of the Senate sets the schedule. And Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell made very clear his plan during remarks on the floor after the Kennedy news broke.

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