In the wake of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg's on Friday, the Supreme Court is scheduled to begin its new term on October 5 with only eight justices. It is unclear how long the vacant seat will last. On September 29, the judges will meet and review hundreds of pending appeals. They will also decide which cases the Supreme Court will hear first. 

Ruth Bader Ginsburg's Death: How's the Operations in Supreme Court with Only 8 Justices
(Photo : Mark Wilson)
Supreme Court Justices Pose For "Class Photo" WASHINGTON - MARCH 03: U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg smiles during a photo session with photographers at the U.S. Supreme Court March 3, 2006 in Washington DC.

According to Fox News, later this year, two high-profile cases are already lined up. One of the significant challenges is Obamacare, which on November 10, will be heard in California. Meanwhile, Texas, and other conservative states, argue that Obamacare is now unconstitutional as Congress passed tax legislation in 2017 that decreased the individual's tax penalty to zero. 

The request to undo Obamacare is the third time, as two previous cases failed to succeed. A major showdown between the Democrat-led House Judiciary Committee and the Trump administration will be argued on December 2. The Supreme Court will decide if the Justice Department has to turn grand jury files to Congress from Robert Mueller, the former Special Counsel, to investigate Russian election interference. 

In any case, if there is a 4-4 tie before filling Ginsburg's vacancy, the justices can reschedule the case for the next term, then. Besides, the remaining judges can lower the court rulings because of a tie, but no precedent is set. To fill the vacancy, President Donald Trump called on Republicans to move without delay by saying that next week, he will name a nominee and would like to see a vote before the November presidential election.

On the other hand, the Democratic senators are unshakable to their will to wait until after the election. Some Senate Republicans also say that they don't want to hold a vote and hearings on a nominee until next year. On Saturday, Senator Susan Collins, R-Maine, said that she doesn't "believe the Senate should vote on a nominee before the election." 

Citing the upcoming election, hours before Ginsburg's death on Friday, Senator Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, told Alaska Public Media that she would not vote to confirm a Supreme Court nominee but the other Republicans want to approve a Supreme Court nominee quickly. One in Trump's list of potential nominees, Texas Senator Ted Cruz, warned of a 'constitutional crisis' if, before November 3, a nominee isn't confirmed by the Senate.

On Friday night, Cruz told Sean Hannity, "We cannot have Election Day come and go with a 4-4 court that is equally divided and cannot decide anything. And I think we risk a constitutional crisis if we do not have a nine-justice Supreme Court, particularly when there is such a risk of a contested election."

Mitch McConnell, Senate Majority Leader, said that President Trump's nominee would receive a vote on the floor of the U.S.Senate. In 2016, after helping block the nomination of D.C Circuit Court of Appeals Chief Judge Merrick Garland, McConnell was accused of hypocrisy.

According to the BBC, Ginsburg died on Friday, weeks before the presidential election. Joe Biden, Trump's Democratic rival, insisted that Ginsburg's replacement should wait after the vote.

The balance of the nine-member Supreme Court justices is crucial to its hearings and ruling on U.S.law's significant issues. Ginsburg is a feminist standard-bearer and a liberal icon who died of metastatic pancreatic cancer in Washington, DC, while her family surrounded her. On Friday, her supporters gathered outside the court to pay tribute to the woman known as "The Notorious RBG".Ruth Bader Ginsburg was the second-ever woman who sat on the Supreme court. 

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