The Supreme Court begins a new term Monday shorthanded and with its future hinging on the outcome of the Nov. 8 presidential election.

There will be only eight justices, not nine, for the first time in decades, starting the new session. The docket is also absent big-ticket cases involving immigration reform, affirmative action, abortion, same-sex marriage and Obamacare, the Washington Post reported. Those are the topics that in recent years have put the Supreme Court in the spotlight.

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Stanford law professor Pamela S. Karlan said during a recent preview session at William & Mary Law School, the future can be summed up in two words: “It depends.” She said Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, if elected, may be better off sticking with Garland.

“The political capital that a President Clinton would have to exert to nominate someone else, unless she has a filibuster-proof Senate, might not be worth it,” Karlan said.