Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg told an audience in Washington, D.C. on Thursday that she will keep her position on the nation's highest court for as long as she's able to do her job.
"I will do this job as long as I can do it full speed, and when I can't, that'll be the time I will step down," the 83-year-old associate justice said during an appearance at George Washington University, Bloomberg Politics reported.
Ginsburg, who has served on the Supreme Court since 1993, is the oldest judge on the bench. She was nominated by then-President Bill Clinton and is widely regarded as a liberal voice in the courtroom. Her age has fueled fears that she might retire in the coming years, however, which would provide an avenue to reshape the court into a more conservative body.
"At my age, you have to take it year by year," Ginsburg said in an interview Thursday on BBC's "Newsnight." "I'm hopeful, however, because my most senior colleague, the one who most recently retired, Justice John Paul Stevens, stepped down at age 90. So I have a way to go."
Ginsburg was careful not to talk about President Donald Trump during the interview. She was criticized last year after calling Trump a "faker," and she later said she regretted the comment.
She told "Newsnight" that America is "not experiencing the best of times" but, she said, she remains optimistic.
"A great man once said that the true symbol of the United States is not the bald eagle. It is the pendulum. And when the pendulum swings too far in one direction, it will go back," she said. "Some terrible things have happened in the United States but one can only hope that we learn from those bad things."
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