An example from history

[LiberalFighter]

On the Court, Sutherland became one of the majority who, in the 1920s, distinguished themselves by overturning progressive federal legislation. By the 1930s the conservative stance of these justices clashed famously with President Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal, which attempted to revitalize the economy and create a social safety net. Sutherland was part of a bloc of four justices (also including James Clark McReynolds, Pierce Butler, and Willis Van Devanter) to whom New Dealers referred disparagingly as the "Four Horsemen" -- a reference to the New Testament Book of Revelations, whose four horsemen were Death, Famine, Pestilence, and War.

When these justices, led by Sutherland, blocked New Deal legislation, it aroused intense political and popular debate. Roosevelt reacted by trying to add one new member to the Court for every sitting justice who was over 70. If his plan to pack the Court had succeeded, Roosevelt would have effectively nullified the votes of the Four Horsemen. The proposal ultimately died in Congress, but the Court, in any case, changed its course in 1937 and began voting to uphold New Deal regulations. (Justice Owen Roberts, who had previously voted with the Four Horsemen, switched his vote on West Coast Hotel v. Parrish, and the Four Horsemen thereafter lost its majority. Although the decision in West Coast Hotel was released after Roosevelt’s announcement of his Court packing plan, leading many to think that political pressure caused his shift, Roberts actually cast his vote in the case prior to Roosevelt’s speech.) With the balance of power shifting away from him, Sutherland retired from the Court in 1938.

Once Scalia or Kennedy step down the balance of power on the court will shift. And may result in Thomas, Alito, and Roberts considering stepping down. That balance of power will be shored up with Stevens and Ginsberg being replaced soon with younger justices.

From oldest to youngest

(04/20/20) 89 -John Paul Stevens
(03/15/33) 77 -Ruth Bader Ginsberg
(03/11/36) 74 -Antonin Scalia
(07/23/36) 73 -Anthony Kennedy
(08/15/38) 71 -Stephen Breyer
(06/23/48) 61 -Clarence Thomas
(04/01/50) 60 -Sam Alito
(01/27/55) 55 -John Roberts
(06/25/54) 55 -Sonia Sotomayor