One of the more consequential results of the 2016 election was former President Donald Trump's opportunity to nominate and see confirmed three conservative-leaning Supreme Court justices during his four-year term.

The same could be said for whoever wins the 2024 election in November, as both Republicans and Democrats widely believe that the next president could get the chance to fill at least a couple of possible vacancies on the high court, according to NBC News.

Republicans especially are excited about the prospect that Trump, if re-elected, may be able to eventually take credit for nominating more than half of the Supreme Court's bench, which could have a conservative-leaning majority for decades to come.

Trump's possible opportunity to nominate more than half of the high court

While there are certainly no guarantees and health issues could always arise and change things, the two Supreme Court justices seemingly closest to retirement would be staunch conservative originalists Clarence Thomas, 76, and Samuel Alito, 74. After them, the next two oldest jurists are liberal Sonia Sotomayor, 70, and moderate Chief Justice John Roberts, 69.

If former President Trump is re-elected, and Republicans take control of the Senate confirmation process, Senate Judiciary Committee member Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) said the odds that Trump will have the opportunity to fill one or more high court vacancies is "High -- extremely high to certain."

"I think you’ll see, on the conservative side, at least one retirement. I’m speculating, but I’m fairly confident of that," he continued and further stated that Republicans would seek potential new justices like Thomas and Alito, "particularly if we’re replacing one of those individuals."

NBC News noted that the last president in U.S. history who had the opportunity to appoint more than half of the Supreme Court was former President Franklin D. Roosevelt, who did so over three-plus terms, and Hawley added, "That could happen with Trump. It could. That would be big."

A nightmare scenario for Democrats

Of course, while Republicans are thrilled at the possibility of seeing a solid majority of relatively young and conservative-leaning Supreme Court justices if former President Trump is re-elected, NBC News noted that it was a nightmare scenario for Democrats, one that some are using to try and encourage turnout from their voter base to try and avoid.

"It would not be good," Sen. Mazie Hirono, (D-HI), a member of the Judiciary Committee, said. "We would have even more getting rid of precedents. You’d have more Dobbs-like decisions. And there’s a whole slew of these kinds of decisions that the Supreme Court has been engaged in."

"It’ll just be worse. So I think what that will lead to is further calls, I hope, for Supreme Court reform," she added.

Likewise, the Harris campaign's rapid response spokesman, James Singer, shared the NBC News report on X and commented, "Trump brags about his 3 Justices overturning Roe. Imagine what he’d do with 2 or 3 more."

Even President Joe Biden, when he was still running for re-election, said in June that "one of the scariest parts" of Trump's possible re-election would be his chance to nominate more Supreme Court justices, according to NPR, and further stated that he, if re-elected -- or presumably VP Harris instead -- would seek to nominate "progressive judges" to fill vacancies and balance out the current ideological tilt of the high court.

Trump has impacted the district and appellate courts as well

Conservative judicial activist Mike Davis, who previously served as chief counsel for nominations for Senate Judiciary Committee Republicans, told NBC News, " President Trump’s biggest and most consequential accomplishment of his first term was his transformation of the Supreme Court to the first constitutionalist majority in 90 years."

Davis noted that Trump was also able to tilt some of the federal appellate courts in a conservative direction and added that if he wins re-election, "Trump will build on his success in his second term with his appointment of even bolder, more fearless federal judges."