answers: lifetime tenure
context: States and eight associate justices who are nominated by the President and confirmed by the Senate. Once appointed, justices have lifetime tenure unless they resign, retire, or are removed from office. Each justice has a single vote in deciding the cases argued before it; the chief justice's vote counts no more than that of any other justice. However, the Chief Justice—when in the majority—decides who writes the court's opinion. Otherwise, the senior justice in the majority assigns the writing of a decision. In modern discourse, the justices are often categorized as having conservative, moderate, or liberal philosophies of law and </s> or receive official endorsements from political parties, as is accepted practice in the legislative and executive branches. Jurists are, however, informally categorized in legal and political circles as being judicial conservatives, moderates, or liberals. Such leanings, however, generally refer to legal outlook rather than a political or legislative one. The nominations of justices are endorsed by individual politicians in the legislative branch who vote their approval or disapproval of the nominated justice. Following the confirmation of Neil Gorsuch in 2017, and prior to Anthony Kennedy's retirement in July 2018, the Court consisted of five justices appointed by Republican presidents and </s> ethics. President Donald Trump's nomination of Neil Gorsuch to the seat left vacant by Antonin Scalia's death was the second. Unlike the Fortas filibuster, however, only Democratic Senators voted against cloture on the Gorsuch nomination, citing his perceived conservative judicial philosophy, and the Republican majority's prior refusal to take up President Barack Obama's nomination of Merrick Garland to fill the vacancy. This led the Republican majority to change the rules and eliminate the filibuster for Supreme Court nominations. Not every Supreme Court nominee has received a floor vote in the Senate. A president may withdraw a nomination before an actual
question: what is the term for supreme court judges