Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito has told confidants he does not intend to retire, despite Republicans’ looming loss of the Senate majority needed to swiftly confirm judicial nominees.
With Republicans currently in control, Donald Trump could have had an opportunity to nominate as many as two additional justices, potentially replacing the court’s oldest conservative members, Alito, 76, and Clarence Thomas, 78.
That prospect will change in January, when Democrats assume the Senate majority and regain the ability to block a Supreme Court nominee through a filibuster.
Alito has told people close to him that he will remain on the bench rather than retire in time for Republicans to push through a Trump-backed successor, The New York Times reported.
According to two sources cited by the newspaper, Alito—who has sided with Trump in 89 percent of cases, based on SCOTUSblog data—made clear that he planned to stay after it became apparent Democrats would take control.
Trump had suggested several weeks earlier that Alito was considering retirement, in what appeared to be an unusual public attempt to influence the justice’s future on the court.
His post on Truth Social was brief, but came after months of speculation over whether Alito might leave the bench.
“A great man!!! President DJT,” Trump wrote Friday morning, while sharing a report headlined, “Justice Alito confirms he is considering retirement.”
Alito, who was nominated by former President George W. Bush, said in a rare CBS News interview last month that he had considered retiring this year and expected to revisit the question in 2027.
Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito (pictured) says he plans to remain on the bench even as Republicans’ ability to confirm judges ends in January, when Democrats take control
Trump recently suggested that Alito was considering retirement, appearing to mount an extraordinary public effort to push the justice off the Supreme Court
“It’s something that I think that somebody at my age has to think about every term,” Alito said.
“But I thought that I could still make a valuable contribution, which is why I became a justice and a judge in the first place,” he added.
Trump has repeatedly praised Alito on social media as one of the “Greatest of All Time,” even as he has used the same platforms to criticize the three justices he appointed to the Supreme Court only a few years ago.
The president has attacked Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett after they ruled against him in major cases during his second term. Those decisions included challenges to his use of an emergency-powers law to impose sweeping global tariffs and to his executive order seeking to end birthright citizenship.
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Trump has also been open about wanting the chance to appoint a fourth justice if a vacancy emerges.
In a Fox News interview earlier this year, he said he was “prepared” to nominate as many as three justices if vacancies arose.
“It’d be nice to say, now I have somebody for 40 years,” Trump told then-Fox News host Maria Bartiromo in an April interview.
Trump said his administration was prepared to fill up to three seats, suggesting that potential nominees were already undergoing vetting.
A Republican Senate majority could have given Donald Trump a chance to appoint two more justices, replacing aging members Samuel Alito, 76, and Clarence Thomas, 78 (pictured right)
Supreme Court justices pose for an official group portrait at the Supreme Court in Washington in 2022
Even so, Trump has consistently paired his comments with praise for Alito and Justice Thomas, another conservative member of the court appointed by George W. Bush. Thomas has also faced occasional retirement speculation, although far less than Alito.
During his first term, Trump moved rapidly to secure confirmation of his Supreme Court nominees.
He nominated Amy Coney Barrett and won her confirmation within 30 days of Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s death, just one week before Trump lost the 2020 election to Joe Biden.
Neil Gorsuch’s confirmation took slightly more than two months. Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination, which was overshadowed by controversy and allegations of misconduct, was approved in just under three months.
Trump has since criticized all three of his appointees for ruling against him in major second-term cases, including disputes over his use of emergency powers to impose global tariffs and his attempt to end birthright citizenship by executive order.
He has made no secret of his desire to appoint a fourth justice if the opportunity presents itself.
However, as The Times noted, even an Alito retirement would not have guaranteed Trump another successful Supreme Court nomination.
With Republicans holding a 53-47 Senate majority, the administration would have needed to satisfy moderates such as lame-duck senators Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski, as well as fellow outgoing Republicans John Cornyn, Bill Cassidy and Thom Tillis, all of whom have clashed with Trump in recent months.
Trump now faces the prospect of negotiating with a Senate in which he would need at least six Democratic votes to preserve his administration’s generational influence over the Supreme Court.
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