Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito confirmed Friday he’s staying on the nation’s highest court, weeks after a swell of speculation about a possible retirement.
“Obviously, I’m here for another term,” Alito, 76, said in an interview published in The Wall Street Journal’s editorial section.
Discussion of Alito’s future hit a fever pitch in June, when a mistake by a veteran Supreme Court reporter at National Public Radio resulted in the erroneous publication of a previously prepared retirement story.
From the Republican perspective, they’d want him to step down so Trump could appoint another younger judge who can lock in a conservative seat on the court for many more years to come.
Him staying runs the same risk as RGB staying: dying or being forced to retire early when a Democrat is in the White House, who would then nominate a less conservative judge.