“All I can say is that I am still here and likely to remain for a while,” Ginsburg told Yahoo News, while indicating that she expects to remain on the bench for “at least” another year, meaning that Obama may have to push a nominee through a Republican-controlled Senate after the 2014 elections.

A Democratic strategist told the Hill that Ginsburg’s retirement would benefit Obama if it came at the right time.

“It would motivate our base,” the strategist said, explaining that “we have a huge drop off of voters because they don’t care about Senate elections, or don’t think they matter.”