Ginsburg: Who would you ‘rather see on the court than me?’

Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg challenged liberals to name a judge they would want on the Supreme Court over her.  

Ginsburg, 81, told Reuters that President Obama would have been forced to choose a compromised nominee if she retired this year because of the partisan breakdown of the Senate. 

{mosads}”So tell me who the president could have nominated this spring that you would rather see on the court than me?” she asked rhetorically. 

Ginsburg is a consistently liberal voice on the court, but some have advised her to resign so Obama could name a successor while Democrats control the Senate. Democrats are battling a tough election landscape to keep control of the upper chamber this year, and Republicans would need to net six seats to flip the majority.  

The majority today is not filibuster-proof, and the changes Democratic leadership made last year to the rules regarding nominations does not apply to Supreme Court nominees. 

Ginsburg’s 75-minute interview with the newswire was the third this week with different media outlets.

Ginsburg described a private lunch Obama invited her to last summer but dismissed the idea “he was fishing” for information about her potential retirement. 

“Maybe to talk about the court,” she said when asked why she received the invitation. “Maybe because he likes me. I like him.”

In an earlier interview with Yahoo News, Ginsburg said she would stay on as long as she is able to think sharply and write quickly. 

When asked if the politics of naming a successor should come into play, she said, “All I can say, I am still here and likely to remain for a while.”