Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg has a message for progressives who want her to retire under President Barack Obama: That ain’t happening, and even if I did, my replacement would be nothing like me.
The leader of the Supreme Court’s liberal wing told Elle magazine that if she did so, Obama would not be able to secure Senate approval for “anyone I would like to see in the court.”
Here’s a snippet from that interview:
I’m not sure how to ask this, but a lot of people who admire and respect you wonder if you’ll resign while President Obama is in office.
Who do you think President Obama could appoint at this very day, given the boundaries that we have? If I resign any time this year, he could not successfully appoint anyone I would like to see in the court. [The Senate] took off the filibuster for lower federal court appointments, but it remains for this court. So anybody who thinks that if I step down, Obama could appoint someone like me, they’re misguided. As long as I can do the job full steam…. I think I’ll recognize when the time comes that I can’t any longer. But now I can.
