If no one has been confirmed by October 1, which is beginning to look more and more likely, then the Court will convene with just eight justices, and more importantly, with the conservative and liberal “blocs” on the Court deadlocked with four justices each. Yes, a subsequently confirmed justice can ascend to the bench the moment she or he is cleared by the Senate. But the new justice will typically not vote on cases in which oral arguments were heard in their absence. So the longer the ninth justice is missing, the more it affects the Court’s work.