U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg said Wednesday she wished the Senate confirmation process for nominees hoping to be appointed to the highest court in the nation would become less partisan.
“The way it was was right. The way it is is wrong,” Ginsburg said when asked to reflect on her own experience before the Senate Judiciary Committee, according to Amy Wang of the Washington Post.
“I wish I could wave a magic wand and have it go back to the way it was,” Ginsburg continued, during a speaking engagement hosted by George Washington University.
[Also read: Pressure growing on swing senators as Brett Kavanaugh vote nears]
Justice Ginsburg (visiting @gwlaw) contrasts her confirmation process to Kavanaugh’s, says it was “truly bipartisan” back then. “The way it was was right. The way it is is wrong… I wish I could wave a magic wand and have it go back to the way it was.” #RBG
— Amy B Wang (@amybwang) September 12, 2018
Ginsburg took her judicial oath for the Supreme Court in 1993 after the Senate confirmed her nomination in a 96-3 vote.
Her comments follow a week of tense hearings for Brett Kavanaugh, who is President Trump’s second nominee to the bench. The panel is scheduled to vote on Kavanaugh’s candidacy on Thursday ahead of his nomination being considered on the Senate floor.
Ginsburg, 85, whose workout regime featured in a 2018 documentary by CNN Films, also said Justice Neil Gorsuch was one of her colleagues who could do more push-ups then she could.
“I think our chief is also a possibility,” she added, referring to Chief Justice John Roberts, CNN’s Ariane de Vogue reported.
RBG is asked if there are any current sitting justices who can do more push ups than she can. she pauses. Maybe, she says ,Justice Gorsuch who rides his bike to work every day. “I think our Chief is also a possibility” she says.
— Ariane de Vogue (@Arianedevogue) September 12, 2018
