Justice Sotomayor is the greatest risk, and she could have engineered her exit earlier this year. Remember that in November. Dems aren't even playing the same game.
They are playing the same game they always have: use carrots like this to get voters to the polls, and hold off on those carrots until an election year.
The problem is that it doesn’t reliably work. Progressive voters just see three and half years of very little progress and six months of fearmongering and pandering, which causes as much or more apathy than it does engagement.
If you look at what the Right does, by comparison, it’s interesting. They throw red meat to their base on day one, and keep it up for the entire term. They know that they need to keep the base pumped and expecting results, which is a big reason why conservative voters turn out at much higher rates: they feel listened to.
Trying to maintain the high ground doesn't work on a stupid electorate that doesn't even know how the system functions. Heck, most Americans couldn't even name how many branches of government or what they were. Most cannot name how many amendments, or what they even are apart from the 2nd. They are idiots, brainwashed with propaganda.
When the strongman takes over and does things, they will have no idea it isn't the status quo. When the Dems play nice, they do know things don't get done. They don't know why because they aren't listening to MSNBC and they aren't listening to white house briefings.
The Dems are losing the propaganda war completely.
Yes he can. But what you have now is a game of political chicken. One of the few gentleman's handshakes that still exist is just the justices the US has. Since 1869, it's been 9 of them. But in the past there were as few as 5 and as many as 10.
There is no law that says you can't have 17. Biden could literally appoint 8 more democratic life appointed judges if they got through the confirmation process.
But then the day Trump or the next republican is elected, they can just appoint N-1, 16, republicans... Then when it flips again, 32 more democrats... It would never end. The court would be proven to be political, even though that facade is crumbling with the ignorant American masses finally.