Alito drops hints he'd like to retire from Supreme Court — but only if Trump wins: report

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito has signaled that he's ready to retire, but only if there's a Republican in office, according to a new report.

The 74-year-old Alito missed two days at the end of the last term amid growing tensions with his colleagues, and increasing public scrutiny concerning partisan bias and questionable ethics has him privately considering stepping down from the bench, according to a new report from CNN Supreme Court analyst Joan Biskupic.

"While Alito is still relatively young as far as justices go (most in recent years haven’t left the bench until their 80s), he has reflected in private about retirement," Biskupic reported.

"If Republican [Donald] Trump were to win Alito may be persuaded to step down. If he does, Trump could look to the 5th Circuit, where many of his most conservative appellate-bench choices from his first term sit, including Alito’s former clerk, Judge [Andrew] Oldham."

Alito has grown accustomed to taking a hardline approach to getting his way in behind-the-scenes court negotiations, but sources told CNN this year that he pushed justices Amy Coney Barrett and Ketanji Brown Jackson too hard on a case involving First Amendment challenges to state laws regulating content moderation on social media platforms and other websites — and he found himself on the losing side of a 6-3 decision.

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The same thing happened the following week, when he was unable to hold onto the majority and wound up on the losing end of a 5-4 decision, the report said.

"It is rare that a justice tapped to write the majority opinion loses it in ensuing weeks, but sources tell CNN that it happened twice this year to Alito," Biskupic reported. "He also lost the majority as he was writing the decision in the case of a Texas councilwoman who said she was arrested in retaliation for criticizing the city manager."

Alito wasn't present June 20 when the chief justice announced the opinion in that case, Gonzalez v. Trevino, and he missed the following day without explanation, although he returned for the final day of the session, when the NetChoice ruling was announced.

But CNN noted that he seemed to be "preoccupied" with reading material he had brought to the bench.

Some court observers noted that Alito and his wife Martha-Ann have been hinting that he would like to retire but not if a Democrat could choose his replacement. They also worried that he would side with Trump in any challenge to a potential 2024 election loss.

"My view is that 'Sam Alito kinda wants to retire' is pretty clear from some of his (and Martha-Ann's) comments lately, but I think this is the first time I've seen a plugged-in Supreme Court reporter confirm it," said Jay Willis, editor-in-chief for Balls & Strikes.

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"One of the biggest reasons I think Alito will do everything in his power to see Trump get elected this November is that he WANTS to retire and he can't/won't under [Kamala] Harris," said The Nation's Elie Mystal. "He's got a personal stake in Trump's campaign, and it shows in his decisions."

"Tees up a fun game: what will sleepy Sam Alito do between now and January to help Donald Trump take the presidency so he can retire and Martha-Ann can fly that VERGOGNA flag?" said political analyst Brian Beutler.

"As I have said, Alito and Thomas will almost certainly retire if Trump is elected," said labor lawyer James Britton. "THATS FIVE (5) SCOTUS justices he will have the opportunity to appoint."