People close to Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito tell The Wall Street Journal that the 74-year-old has no interest in retiring, throwing swamp water on right-wing hopes that Donald Trump will replace Alito with a younger judicial extremist.
“Despite what some people may think, this is a man who has never thought about this job from a political perspective,” one source told the paper, laughably. Considering how overt Alito’s partisanship has been the past few years, it’s worth taking this statement with a bolder of salt.
There has been speculation for months that a Trump presidency would replace both Alito and fellow Justice Clarence Thomas, who is 76 years old, since they are the court’s two oldest members.
But even if Alito has no current plans to step down, Trump will have at least two years of a Republican Senate, so the justice may end up changing his mind, especially if the 2026 midterm forecast looks bad for the GOP.
Last summer, a ProPublica investigation kicked off a wave of reporting on Alito’s ethical failings. That original report detailed a luxury fishing trip Alito went on that was paid for by hedge fund billionaire Paul Singer, and that Alito did not properly report that gift on his financial disclosures. Worse, Alito heard cases involving Singer’s hedge fund no fewer than 10 times—and not once did not recuse himself.
This past May, The New York Times reported that in the days after the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the Capitol, an upside-down flag—a symbol of the “Stop the Steal” movement—was flown outside his home in Alexandria, Virginia. The cowardly Alito then attempted to blame his wife for the flag as well as offer up a justification that didn’t add up.
Despite this, Alito refused to recuse himself from a Supreme Court case with direct implications on Trump’s culpability in the insurrection. Alito’s arrogant and intellectually diluted response did not convince anyone of his impartiality. And the court’s subsequent decision that Trump would be immune from all “official acts” during his time as president is considered by many legal experts to be poorly thought out and dangerous.
At the same time, Alito’s arrogance and egoism are the very same qualities that might lead him to refuse calls to retire.
Republished with permission from Daily Kos.
