President-elect Trump's victory in the White House has sparked a similar battle between conservatives and liberals over whether the Supreme Court's oldest justice should retire.
Trump's election has raised public expectations that two of the court's leading conservatives, Justice Clarence Thomas (76) and Justice Samuel Alito (74), will resign.
The next Republican-controlled Senate may be able to smoothly confirm President Trump's successor, but in response to speculation, a leading figure in the conservative legal movement called the meeting “sleazy.” Warning and warning.
Meanwhile, as President Biden's term draws to a close and the court's most senior liberal, Justice Sonia Sotomayor (70), shows no signs of stepping back, some Democrats are starting to think that the election results will change the court's chances. There are renewed concerns that the vote could be heading toward a 7-2 conservative majority.
In his first term, President Trump appointed three justices who delivered significant victories for conservatives, including overturning constitutional abortion protections, reducing the powers of federal agencies, and expanding gun rights. Remade.
If Thomas and Alito actually retire, Trump could become the first president since Dwight Eisenhower to appoint a majority of sitting Supreme Court justices during his second term.
“We're going to see a resurgence of young originalist judges who truly respect the structural constraints of the Constitution,” said Kimberly Herman, executive director of the conservative Southeastern Legal Foundation.
Ed Whelan, a conservative legal commentator and former Supreme Court clerk, wrote in his Substack newsletter last week that he expects Mr. Trump to accomplish a rare feat.
“I expect Alito to announce his retirement from the court in the spring of 2025. I think it is very likely that Thomas will do the same in the spring of 2026,” Whelan wrote.
Mike Davis, Trump's ardent public defender, has denied rumors that Trump could become attorney general, but wrote on social platform X, “Prediction: Judge Sam Alito will happily Cleaning up the chamber,” he wrote.
But not all conservatives think that way.
“Other than Justices Thomas and Alito, no one knows when or if they will retire. It is unwise, ignorant, and blunt to talk about them like expired meat. It's just vulgar,” said judicial activist Leonard Leo. He played a central role in shifting the court to the right and supported President Trump's selection of three nominees in an unusual public statement.
“Justice Thomas and Justice Alito dedicated their lives to our country and our Constitution, and they deserve to be treated with more dignity and respect than they receive from some intellectuals,” Leo said.
Thomas, appointed by former President George H.W. Bush, is the longest-serving sitting judge. His 33-year tenure recently ranked him in the top 10 of the 116 players to ever take the court.
Alito most recently joined the court in 2006 after being nominated by former President George W. Bush.
There is no guarantee that the two conservatives, or the outside mayors that President Obama appointed to the court in 2009, will retire during President Trump's tenure. All of them will still be younger at the end of Trump's term than the last three justices, who remained on the bench into their 80s.
Stephen Breyer retired at age 83, Ruth Bader Ginsburg served until her death at age 87, and Anthony Kennedy retired at age 82.
“It's difficult to predict when a Supreme Court justice will retire,” Herman said.
Democrats remain reeling from Ginsburg's decision not to retire during former President Barack Obama's term despite facing health issues. Ginsburg died of pancreatic cancer weeks before the 2020 election, so Trump replaced liberal icon Amy Coney Barrett, the youngest sitting justice at 52, with a 6-3 conservative majority. I was able to form a faction.
When Breyer announced his retirement a year into Biden's term, when Democrats also held the Senate, the liberal justice suggested the political environment was part of his calculations.
“If I'm there for one more year, two more years — you know, I'm not Methuselah — even three years. Is it possible for the president to name and approve my replacement? That's what's on my mind,” Breyer said. CNN interviewAfter leaving the bench.
“As you know, the parties are split between the Senate's control and the president's control, and sometimes long stretches of time have caused delays,” Breyer continued. “And I hope that I myself will retire and, as a member of the court, not be involved in so-called purely political matters.”
Before the election, Mayor Soto faced scattered calls for his retirement from columnist Josh Barro and Mehdi Hasan, a former MSNBC host who now runs startup Zeteo.
But elected Democrats bucked pressure from left-wing commentators and supported Sotomayor's decision to remain on the bench.
Sotomayor, the third-oldest sitting judge, has long publicly disclosed that he has type 1 diabetes, but the judge was accompanied by a medic in recent years at the request of watchdogs under the Freedom of Information Act. Documents were unearthed showing this, raising concerns about her health.
Her health also came under public scrutiny after she denied reports of a conflict over mask-wearing during her return to in-person work with President Trump's first appointee, Justice Neil Gorsuch, who sits next to Sotomayor on the court. There was a commotion. Sotomayor continued to wear a mask during oral arguments long after his fellow judges, but stopped wearing them several months ago.
There is no indication that the liberal jurist plans to retire, and it is unclear at this point whether a replacement will even be confirmed before Biden's term ends.wall street journalandCNNIt was recently reported that Sotomayor plans to remain in office, citing people close to the judge.
Mr. Thomas, Mr. Alito and Mr. Sotomayor did not respond to requests for comment about the plan sent to a court spokeswoman.
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) said on NBC's “Meet the Press” that he had heard “a little bit” from colleagues about the prospect of Sotomayor retiring during the waning days of the Biden administration, but said He said he rejected the idea. .
“I don't think that's a wise approach,” Sanders said.
