Justice Ginsburg undergoing chemotherapy, says she has no plans to step down

WASHINGTON – Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg disclosed Friday that she has been undergoing chemotherapy for a recurrence of cancer since May 19, but said she was encouraged because the treatments are “yielding positive results.”

She said she has no plans to step down and can “maintain an active daily routine.”

But the life and health of the 87-year-old justice will remain of matter of intense interest throughout the election year.

President Donald Trump and Senate Majority Leader Mitch Mcconnell, R-KY., have said they would move quickly to replace the court’s senior liberal with a staunch conservative if she leaves the court.

“I can’t imagine that if he had a vacancy on the Supreme Court that he would not very quickly make the appointment and look for the Senate to take quick action,” White House chief of staff Mark Meadows said Wednesday when asked what Trump would do if a vacancy occurred.

If a nomination fight developed during the roughly 14 weeks between now and the election, it would galvanize partisans on both sides and put some Republican senators from closely divided states in a very difficult position.

Already, for example, the vote by Sen. Susan

Collins, R-maine, in

2018 to confirm Brett M. Kavanaugh to the court has made her one of the Republicans’ most endangered lawmakers.

If Democrats win the White House in November and take control of the Senate, a vacancy that occurred after the election could create an even more fraught situation. The lameduck Senate would remain under Republican control through Jan. 3, 2021, and could confirm a nominee if 50 Republicans agreed to proceed. Whether they would is unknowable.

Ginsburg has survived four bouts with cancer during her 27 years on the court and rarely missed a day when the court was in session.

Last August, she reported that she had undergone radiation treatment for a small malignant tumor in her pancreas. She said the tumor was detected while she was undergoing blood work, and she later proclaimed she was cancerfree.

But in Friday’s statement, she revealed the cancer had spread to her liver in February. She also admitted she had withheld the information until she had better news to report.

“My most recent scan on July 7 indicated significant reduction of the liver lesions and no new disease,” she said. “I am tolerating chemotherapy well and am encouraged by the success of my current treatment.”