The defiant Kentucky clerk who has doubled down in her determination not to grant marriage licenses to same-sex couples can't be fired for refusing to do her job.

On Tuesday, after the U.S. Supreme Court turned her away , Rowan County clerk Kim Davis again declined to grant those licenses, insisting that she was acting "under God's authority." So what happens next?

Kentucky law largely shields an elected official like Davis from being forced out of her post. Until the next election, when the voters can boot her, she can be removed only through impeachment by the state legislature .

That's a messy, lengthy process that has rarely been pursued in Kentucky. The simpler alternative, as Gov. Steve Beshear (D) told another recalcitrant clerk, would be for Davis to either issue the licenses or resign . But even the governor is legally powerless to make her resign.