Stephen Breyer, and why Thursday is a huge day for the future of the Supreme Court

From there, it would depend on where that vacancy arose. But there are plenty of candidates for moving Democrats out of the majority.

Of the 50 senators who caucus with the Democrats, about one-third (14) come from states where a Republican governor could appoint a GOP senator to replace them (nine) or where there would be no appointee before a special election could be held (five).

Of those 14, seven are at least 70 years old.