Justice Samuel Alito reportedly has no intention of stepping down from the U.S. Supreme Court to make way for a younger Trump appointee.
The 74-year-old judge has been at the center of speculation that he could be persuaded to resign to cement the court’s right-wing supremacy.
But insiders close to Alito told The Wall Street Journal: “Despite what some people may think, this is a man who has never thought about this job from a political perspective. The idea that he’s going to retire for political considerations is not consistent with who he is.”
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Democrats have all but given up hope of replacing Justice Sonia Sotomayor, 70, with little time on their side for President Joe Biden to push through a like-for-like ideological switch and Sotomayor uninterested in sacrificing her position.
But Republicans would have at least two years with a Trump White House and a GOP-controlled Congress to push through SCOTUS confirmations pretty much unopposed.
The opportunity to further button down the 6-3 conservative majority on the nation’s highest court that Trump helped create with three appointments during his first term led some Republicans to target Alito and fellow septuagenarian Clarence Thomas, 76, for possible replacements. The two men are considered the most right-leaning on the panel.
Alito, appointed by President George W. Bush in 2006, has already hired one law clerk for the next session and is planning for a full complement of four to carry on through the 2025-26 term, sources told the Journal.
Both parties are determined not to allow a repeat of 2020, when Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg died during Trump’s first term after resisting calls to resign when Barack Obama could have selected a liberal nominee. Trump quickly picked Justice Amy Coney Barrett, whose vote allowed the court to overrule Roe v. Wade.
Justices are lifetime appointments, and there are no age limits to the job.
