by Katelynn Richardson
Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito does not intend to retire in the wake of President-elect Donald Trump’s election victory, according to the Supreme Court. Wall Street Journal.
Trump’s election caused a storm speculation Alito and Thomas, 74 and 76 respectively, will retire to allow Trump to appoint younger conservative justices to the bench. However, people close to justice he said The WSJ does not include this in Alito’s plans.
“Contrary to what some may think, this is a man who never thought about the job from a political standpoint,” a person close to Alito told WSJ. “The idea that he would retire for political reasons is not consistent with who he is.”
Alito has already hired a law officer for the 2025-2026 term and will likely hire the rest in the next few months, WSJ reports.
Conservative legal activist and Federalist Society leader Leonard Leo called speculation about judges retiring “nonsense” in a statement Friday.
“No one other than Justices Thomas and Alito knows when or if they will retire, and to talk about them as past-the-date meat is unwise, uninformed and, frankly, just plain stupid,” Leo said. According to to CNN.
During his first term, Trump confirmed Justices Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court, as well as more than 200 federal judges. It is set to start its second term with fewer members available vacancies.
With a Republican majority in the Senate, it should be easier for Trump to get his nomination confirmed.
Some Senate Democrats started it suggestion after Trump’s victory, Justice Sonia Sotomayor should step down to allow for the recent justice to be confirmed before the next administration, but the WSJ also reported Sotomayor has no plans to retire on Sunday.
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Katelynn Richardson is a reporter at the Daily Caller News Foundation.
