THIS IS A MAJOR CHANGE
Any 5-4 ruling in favor of the conservative majority can no longer happen for the foreseeable future.
At very best, the Republicans must filibuster for over a year, and then get an moderate or two on the bench under a Republican president. Even this possibility is unlikely if they filibuster now.
The Republican hope is to work with Democrats on the next 3 nominations, 1 now, and 2 under the next president. Then, the Republicans have a chance of keeping a majority on the bench.
I don't understand this at all. All this will do is tip it to a 5-4 Democrat advantage -- something we haven't had for a few decades. The next 3 that are likely to "leave" the court are 2 Democrats and 1 Republican -- all are older than 77. There is a good chance the next president nominates 3 new justices, not counting Scalia's empty seat. So, if an Obama appointee is not approved and it is pushed to the next president, we could be looking at a very conservative court that has a 7-2 Republican split. Even if Obama makes this appointment, you are still potentially looking at a 6-3 Republican advantage if a Republican wins the White House.
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