Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg
Ruth Bader GinsburgBipartisan anger builds over police failure at Capitol Lindsey Graham praises Merrick Garland as 'sound choice' to serve as attorney general 2020: A year in photos MORE defended conservative Justices Brett Kavanaugh
Brett Michael KavanaughMurkowski says she is not considering joining Democratic caucus Murkowski becomes first GOP senator to call on Trump to resign 50-50 Senate opens the door to solutions outlasting Trump's moment of violence MORE and Neil Gorsuch
Neil GorsuchBiden to introduce Garland as attorney general, other top DOJ nominees Biden to name Merrick Garland for attorney general Supreme Court rejects Christian school's push for COVID-19 carve-out MORE as “very decent and very smart.”
"I can say that my two newest colleagues are very decent and very smart individuals," she said Wednesday at an event in Washington, D.C., according to CNN.
Ginsburg’s comments come amid concerns that if she were to die or to retire from the bench, a spot would open up on the nine-member court for President Trump
Donald TrumpHouse GOP leader tells members to quit spreading lies on riot, antifa DC attorney general says Trump Organization improperly paid K bill incurred during inauguration 70K QAnon Twitter accounts suspended in the wake of Capitol riot MORE to appoint a third conservative justice and push the ideological balance further to the right.
In an interview with NPR on Tuesday, the 86-year-old justice refuted those concerns, saying she's "very much alive."
Ginsburg is one of the court’s four liberal-leaning justices and has served on the bench since 1993. Earlier this month, she praised Kavanaugh for his entirely female staff as a “very important first.”
"There is a very important first on the Supreme Court this term, and it's thanks to our new justice, Justice Kavanaugh, whose entire staff is all women. All of his law clerks are women," Ginsburg said at an event held by Georgetown Law, CNN reports.
She added: “And with his four women as law clerks, it's the first time in the history of the United States that there have been more women clerking at the court than men."
Gorsuch, Trump’s first Supreme Court appointment, was sworn in in April 2017, while Kavanaugh — who replaced Justice Anthony Kennedy, the court’s swing vote — was sworn in on Oct. 6 after a controversial confirmation process centered on multiple sexual assault allegations.
Kavanaugh recently came under fire for appointing the daughter of Yale law professor and self-branded “Tiger Mom” Amy Chua, who publicly supported Kavanaugh’s nomination, to a clerkship in his office.
