Replacing the late Supreme Court Justice Anthony Scalia has opened the floor to bipartisan imbalance, and the political dynamic of the Supreme Court of the United States, or SCOTUS, may be changed entirely. Traditionally, the nine members of the Supreme Court is divided unevenly amongst the political spectrum, but housing an odd number of members provides a “swing vote” that decides majority ruling. The absence of Scalia, a historically conservative member, gives opportunity for this “swing vote” to work in favor of liberal policies, if the newest member has leftward ideas.

Although Scalia shook from conservative values in some cases, such as flag-burning, most of his decisions favored Republican ideals. Most supreme court cases ended in his favor because four  out of nine Supreme Court Justices entertained similar views. With the importance of this replacement in mind, President Obama has been given a decision met with harsh criticism. However, the President has made this decision twice before, appointing Sonya Sotomayor in 2009, and Elena Kagan the year following. Both appointments were battled by Congress, and we could see similar contest in the coming weeks.

Controversy over the new Supreme Court Justice runs high due to 2016 being an election year, a time when political opposition heats up. This situation has only come up a handful of times throughout United States history. In the most recent example, Democrats blocked former President Ronald Reagan’s nominee Robert Bork. The stage has been set for Republicans to block whoever President Obama nominates, and many have already sworn to do so. They believe that Obama’s successor, the president to take office in February of 2017, should be relied upon to make the choice. However, stalling for nearly a year would be a hard feat for Republicans to pull off. Historically, the longest amount of time taken to confirm a Supreme Court Justice to the bench was 125 days, when Louis Brandeis took his position in 1916.

Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor believes that the President’s best course of action is to announce his replacement as soon as he can. In an interview with CNN, O’Connor said, ““Well you just have to pick the best person you can under these circumstances, as the appointing authority must do. And it’s an important position and one we care about as a nation, as a people,” O’Connor said. “And I wish the president well as he makes choices and goes down that line — it’s hard.” Read more about her opinion here.

President Obama has not currently named any appointees, and not much is known about his options at this time. He has a wide pool of potential Supreme Court Justices to choose from, but with a little less than a year in office, he will likely make his decision before his term ends. Until he makes his decision, the prospect of a new Supreme Court Justice will be met by the harsh judgement of Congress.