Alito Considers Retirement, Says Will Revisit Decision Each Term
Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito reveals he considered retirement but plans to stay, citing his ability to contribute.
2 min read
Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito has revealed he considered retiring this year but decided to stay, stating he believes he can still contribute to the court. In a CBS News interview clip released Friday, Alito, 76, said he expects to revisit the decision each term. He did not provide a specific retirement date, leaving the possibility open for President Donald Trump to nominate another justice.
Crawford asked why Alito remained on the bench despite pressure for him to retire. Alito explained that retirement had become a question he needed to weigh regularly. “Well, it’s something I think that somebody at my age has to think about every term,” he 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. So that was basically it.”
Crawford then asked whether Alito would reconsider each year. “Yeah, I think I have to,” Alito replied. He also addressed concerns about waiting potentially putting his work at risk, stating that both his personal circumstances and the political situation are unpredictable. “It’s too hard to predict,” he said. “It’s too hard to predict how for anybody, and particularly when you reach a certain age, what your situation will be a year from now, two years from now and so forth.”
Alito added that it is also difficult to predict the political situation and what any president might do regarding a replacement. A vacancy during Trump’s presidency could give him a chance to select a fourth Supreme Court justice. During his first term, Trump nominated Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett, all of whom won Senate confirmation.
In an exclusive interview with Breitbart News in July, Trump said he was “certainly prepared” to fill a possible Supreme Court vacancy. He praised Alito as “one of the greatest of all time” and said he would like to appoint a younger version of him. Trump did not name a potential replacement. “Well I think, you know, if you listen to people, there are three potential vacancies for various reasons, so I’m certainly prepared,” Trump told Breitbart News. “There are a lot of great people out there who would like to have that position.”
Source: Breitbart
