Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito confirmed last week he is staying on the bench for another term, ending weeks of speculation touched off by a botched NPR report that claimed he was retiring.
“Obviously, I’m here for another term,” Alito, 76, said in an interview published in The Wall Street Journal’s editorial section.
The retirement talk began in June after a veteran NPR Supreme Court reporter mistakenly published a previously prepared retirement story on the network’s website. NPR pulled the story within hours. The Supreme Court’s press office confirmed the report was inaccurate.
The error did not stop the chatter in Washington. A retirement would have given President Trump a chance to name a fourth justice to the court during his second term, reshaping the bench’s balance for a generation.
NPR has not detailed publicly how the draft story, described as previously prepared, ended up published in error, nor has it said whether the reporter involved faced discipline. The network’s retraction drew sharp criticism from media watchdogs at the time.
In the Journal interview, conducted in his chambers, Alito addressed claims that partisan politics shape his rulings on the court.
“I vote in every case the way I think the case should be decided,” Alito said. “If that means a high correlation with what Trump wants, fine. If it means zero correlation with what Trump wants, fine as well.”
Alito has served on the Supreme Court since 2006, when he was appointed by President George W. Bush and confirmed by the Senate 58-42. He is one of six justices on the current court appointed by Republican presidents, giving conservatives a solid majority on cases ranging from administrative law to religious liberty.
At 76, Alito is the second-oldest sitting justice behind Clarence Thomas, 77. Speculation about the court’s aging conservative wing has simmered for years, with court watchers regularly floating retirement scenarios for both justices whenever the court recesses for its summer break.
Friday’s comments put an end, at least for now, to months of guessing games in Washington over the court’s composition heading into the back half of Trump’s term. The Supreme Court is scheduled to open its next term in October, when Alito is expected to take his seat on the bench alongside the rest of the justices for oral arguments.
