Ruth Bader Ginsburg to Retire?

Ruth Bader Ginsburg to Retire?

By Robert Stacy McCain on 5.28.10 @ 6:06AM

Senate staffers Thursday were hearing rumors (ultimate source unknown) that the retirement of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is less than two months away.

The plan reportedly is this: If Elena Kagan's nomination to the court can be confirmed early this summer, Ginsburg would then announce her retirement, so that confirmation for Ginsburg's replacement could be finished before the end of the year.

Those who believe the rumor see the Ginsburg retirement scenario as a signal that the Obama administration fears Democrats may lose enough Senate seats in the mid-term election to make it more difficult to confirm a liberal appointee after the next Congress convenes in January 2011.

Furthermore, the rumored plan to fill a second Supreme Court vacancy this year may explain why Democrats are attempting to rush Kagan through confirmation, despite objections from Republicans that there is insufficient time to get complete records of Kagan's service in the Clinton White House. If Republicans delay the Kagan confirmation hearings (currently scheduled to begin June 28), that could disrupt the timetable necessary for Obama to appoint, and the Senate to confirm, a replacement for Ginsburg before next January.

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