Supreme Court, Back at 9, Endures as Centrist

With the swearing-in Monday of Justice Neil Gorsuch, the U.S. Supreme Court’s configuration shifts to … a 4-4 balance with a single centrist justice as the swing vote. If that sounds familiar, it should. It’s been the normal state of affairs since 1986, when Justice Antonin Scalia joined, and on some issues all the way back to Richard Nixon’s administration.

This time, of course, the configuration results from the Republican Senate’s unprecedented and successful gamble to block President Barack Obama from filling Scalia’s seat. His pick, Judge Merrick Garland, would have given the liberals a clear, consistent majority for the first time since the days of Chief Justice Earl Warren -- unless and until President Donald Trump had the chance to replace one of the court’s liberals.