A SCJ dies 32 weeks prior to an election and politicians say "we should not fill the seat in an election year".
A SCJ dies 7 weeks prior to an election and those same politicians say "we should fill the seat in an election year"
How does that work?
Hypocrisy and deception are the foundation of the Democrat party.
@TheMiddleWay Riiiight. ONLY Republicans try to fill the seat whenever possible? It is perfectly legal for either party to do that dummy. And only the Democrats think voters are so dumb that they will believe it when they tell them that the law says differently, and that it makes sense that Democrats can appoint late and Republicans can't. I doubt that you are the "Middle Way." You behave just like another progressive who wants everyone to believe that you are rational, and are willing to intentionally deceive to do it.
It works by being, in each case, the best decision for the nation... which should always be their sole concern.
@TheMiddleWay how was it detrimental?
The number of asses in seats is irrelevant, it's the ideological composition of the Court that matters.
The SCOTUS is a conservative institution by its very nature. Every single progressive on the Court only serves to corrupt the institution and make it less effective.
@TheMiddleWay because eventually we'd reach zero.
It's arguable whether even that would matter. The Founders were not all sold on the idea of having a SCOTUS at all. I think we might be better off with States' judiciaries filling that role.
All we need from them is a Yes or No: Does the law before the Court violate the Constitution?
But, to convene the States occasionally as a body for that purpose, would just end up looking like an ad hoc Supreme Court anyway, I guess.