The Supreme Court is equal to the Legislative and the Executive branches, and has checks and balances with them. It was established to rule on the constitutionality of cases and to be non-partisan. Despite this idea being good on paper, in reality it doesn't always live up to that. Of course, justices are allowed and assumed to have their political leanings, but they aren't supposed to let those leanings interfere on their judicial decisions, but let strictly the Constitution influence them.
Nowadays, the Supreme Court has unfortunately become political. Justices appointed by Republican Presidents are hated by the left, and justices appointed by Democrats are hated on the right. The President is supposed to appoint justices based on who is the most qualified for the position, but the temptation to appoint someone primarily because they agree with you is often too strong.
I know I'm late on this post; I read the info, but I forgot to actually write the post. But I am going to take the opportunity I have of writing this now to mention the news from over the weekend that has brought a huge amount of attention to the Supreme Court: the death of Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Because her passing happened so close to an election (and a particularly intense election at that), the idea of whether or not Trump should be allowed to appoint a replacement before the election is being hotly debated. However, I fear that this debate is less about the actual principle of the matter -- whether it is ethical for a President who is potentially almost out the door to push someone through before the time limit -- and more about the politics of the matter. Because justices are often appointed by the President and/or rejected by the Senate based solely on their politics and not their qualifications, Democrats are expectedly against Trump appointing someone, while Republicans are expectedly for it.
Personally, I think Trump has every right to appoint a new justice, even if he is at risk of losing the Presidency, because of two reasons. For one, it's not like this is the first time in history this has happened. Democrats have rammed a new justice through on their way out the door, just as Republicans have done it before. And second, it's not like Trump isn't President anymore just because an election is going on. We didn't elect him to a 95% term. We elected him to a full 4-year term. Constitutionally (which, again, is what the Supreme Court is supposed to be all about), he has every right to appoint a justice to replace Justice Ginsburg, even during an election season.
Here is an article from The Daily Wire talking about Amy Coney Barrett's nomination and whether it's okay for her to be confirmed:
https://www.dailywire.com/news/mcconnell-pushing-forward-relentlessly-confirming-judges
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