Ginsburg returning to seat after surgery

WASHINGTON — Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is expected to sit for a U.S. Supreme Court argument Tuesday for the first time since she had surgery in December to remove cancerous masses from one of her lungs.

Ginsburg’s presence will be a relief to liberals worried about the prospect that the 85-year-old justice might have to resign and give President Donald Trump a third Supreme Court vacancy to fill.

Ginsburg has been working from home while recovering from the operation. She missed two weeks of arguments in January — a first for her — but is participating in those cases by using the briefs and transcripts, court officials have said.

She attended a private conference at the court with her fellow justices Friday, when the court agreed to decide whether the Trump administration can ask about U.S. citizenship on the 2020 census.