Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito Jr. (left) and his wife Martha Ann Alito pay their respects at the casket of the Rev. Billy Graham in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda on February 28, 2018 in Washington.
Pablo Martinez Monsivais | AP
Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito said in an interview with CBS News that he “considered” retiring after his final term on the high court, but decided against it because he believed he could still make a “valuable contribution.”
At 76, Alito is the second-oldest justice on the court, and speculation had swirled that he would retire while Republicans control the Senate and White House, meaning they are likely to quickly confirm Republican-backed nominees to the bench.
The Senate could flip to Democrats after November’s midterm elections, making confirmation of President Donald Trump’s nominees more difficult or impossible if Democrats control the Senate.
“I’m perplexed by the retirement speculation. It’s not very fun to look up and see vultures circling,” Alito said in a separate interview on “Fox News Sunday.” “There’s no math on that…I think it’s reckless to calculate that I’m going to serve a certain number of additional years.”
There has been speculation that Alito might step down before the midterm elections, as he is one of the court’s most conservative justices, but the justices have not made a final decision. If Democrats control the Senate, they will effectively have veto power over Supreme Court nominations.
Justice Clarence Thomas, 78, the oldest justice on the court and a member of the conservative faction, is also on retirement watch.
The politics and timing of Supreme Court vacancies have been in the spotlight since Justice Antonin Scalia died in 2016. Then-Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell rejected President Barack Obama’s nomination of Merrick Garland to the Supreme Court until after the 2016 presidential election, giving President Trump time to nominate and confirm Justice Neil Gorsuch.
And after Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg died in 2020, McConnell moved quickly to confirm President Trump’s nominee, Amy Coney Barrett, just one week before the 2020 presidential election.
The court is currently controlled by a 6-3 conservative majority.
Currently, national House polls and the CBS News Battleground Tracking Model show Democrats in the lead, with Democrats estimated to have a slim majority after the midterm elections, which are just 30 days away. The Senate is also currently in session, and Republicans are facing unexpectedly close races across the country amid voter anger over prices and the economy.
To gain a majority in the Senate, Democrats need to win at least four seats while preserving all the seats they currently hold.
