Biden Needs to Accept That It’s Time to Step Aside

When Barack Obama invited Ruth Bader Ginsburg to a White House lunch in 2013, the president reminded the 80-year-old Supreme Court justice that the coming midterm elections might cost Democrats control of the Senate. The implication was clear but unstated: It might also cost Obama an opportunity to appoint a younger, equally liberal judge to the court who could uphold Ginsburg’s legacy.

Ginsburg opted to stay put, resisting entreaties from others that she retire gracefully. After she died in 2020, right before the last presidential election, Republicans rushed her replacement, Amy Coney Barrett, through the nominating process and cemented the court’s conservative majority.

History shouldn’t revolve around one person’s desire to hold on to a job, but sometimes it does. And the consequences of hanging on for too long are magnified by stature and influence. This can be true if someone is a widely admired and gifted lion of the court, like Ginsburg, or a lifelong and honorable public servant with a thick record of distinguished achievements, like Joe Biden.