“Sam Alito Kinda Wants to Retire”: Justice Considers Leaving Supreme Court if GOP Wins
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U.S. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito, aged 74, has signaled he is contemplating retirement, but only if a Republican is in office, according to a new report. Alito missed two days at the end of the last term amid rising tensions with his colleagues and increased public scrutiny over partisan bias and questionable ethics, CNN Supreme Court analyst Joan Biskupic reported.
“While Alito is still relatively young as far as justices go (most in recent years haven’t left the bench until their 80s), he has reflected in private about retirement,” Biskupic wrote.
Biskupic added, “If Republican [Donald] Trump were to win, Alito may be persuaded to step down. If he does, Trump could look to the 5th Circuit, where many of the most conservative appellate-bench choices from his first term sit, including Alito’s former clerk, Judge [Andrew] Oldham.”
Alito has often taken a hardline approach in court negotiations, but sources told CNN that this year he pushed Justices Amy Coney Barrett and Ketanji Brown Jackson too hard on a case involving First Amendment challenges to state laws regulating content moderation on social media platforms. As a result, he ended up on the losing side of a 6-3 decision.
A similar scenario occurred the following week, where Alito was on the losing end of a 5-4 decision. “It is rare that a justice tapped to write the majority opinion loses it in ensuing weeks, but sources tell CNN that it happened twice this year to Alito,” Biskupic noted. He also lost the majority while writing the decision in the case of Gonzalez v. Trevino, involving a Texas councilwoman who claimed she was arrested in retaliation for criticizing the city manager.
Alito was absent on June 20 when the chief justice announced the opinion in that case and missed the following day without explanation. He returned for the final day of the session when the NetChoice ruling was announced but appeared “preoccupied” with reading material he had brought to the bench.
Observers have noted that Alito and his wife Martha-Ann have been hinting at his desire to retire, but only if a Democrat could not choose his replacement. They also expressed concern that he might side with Trump in any challenge to a potential 2024 election loss.
“My view is that ‘Sam Alito kinda wants to retire’ is pretty clear from some of his (and Martha-Ann’s) comments lately, but I think this is the first time I’ve seen a plugged-in Supreme Court reporter confirm it,” said Jay Willis, editor-in-chief of Balls & Strikes.
Elie Mystal of The Nation added, “One of the biggest reasons I think Alito will do everything in his power to see Trump get elected this November is that he WANTS to retire and he can’t/won’t under [Kamala] Harris. He’s got a personal stake in Trump’s campaign, and it shows in his decisions.”
“Tees up a fun game: what will sleepy Sam Alito do between now and January to help Donald Trump take the presidency so he can retire and Martha-Ann can fly that VERGOGNA flag?” mused political analyst Brian Beutler. “As I have said, Alito and Thomas will almost certainly retire if Trump is elected,” stated labor lawyer James Britton. “THAT’S FIVE (5) SCOTUS justices he will have the opportunity to appoint.”
