“Might be better to wait until Trump names another Justice.”
Exactly. Maybe the rest weren’t sure of a win...but wait to replace Ruth Buzzi (surely no more than a year or two) and it is a whole different ball game. These 5-4 wins (if you can get them) are nice - but 6-3 or 7-2 is far better (i.e. they really can’t get overturned by the next case that comes along...and the longer they are settled law, the harder it is to overturn them).
This is also known as strategery - a practice not unknown in the courts.