Refusing to consider Garland is a vastly different situation than Gorsuch. Garland, in replacing the conservative Scalia, would have represented the fifth liberal on the court, meaning no decision made by the court would ever again be anything other than liberal. The court would be free to reinterpret the "living constitution" to mean whatever they want it to mean, thus they could invalidate any law that Congress might pass or any interpretation of law that the Executive might enact. The Judicial branch would thus become the defacto power of government in the United States, a five person board of Ayatollahs. Conservatives, conversely, may not make individual decisions a liberal would like, but maintain a Constitution whereby the rules stay the same. This stability is the basis of a stable and strong country. But even this is not the case here. Garland merely reestablishes the balance of the court, 4 liberals, 4 conservative, and a socially liberal but sometimes conservative Kennedy.