Alito will stay on Supreme Court, easing retirement speculation

Justice Samuel Alito will stay on the U.S. Supreme Court for another term, ending fresh speculation that one of the court’s most prominent conservatives might leave soon. Sources close to Alito said he intended to keep serving into at least 2027, and he had already begun hiring clerks for the next term.

Alito, who was appointed by President George W. Bush and sworn in on Jan. 31, 2006, has long been one of the court’s most forceful conservative voices. His decision to remain keeps the current ideological lineup intact for another term, with no immediate vacancy to alter the court’s 6-3 conservative tilt.

The timing matters because the court is still at the center of major fights over abortion, administrative power, gun rights, presidential authority and election law. In a closely divided era, a single justice can influence the outcome of a case not only through votes but through the way other justices calibrate their positions around a likely swing or a hard-line bloc member. Keeping Alito in place preserves a bench that has already reshaped constitutional law on abortion and federal regulation, while leaving the coming term’s big disputes to be decided by the same nine justices.

Retirement speculation around Alito and Justice Clarence Thomas had grown because of the political stakes of any opening. Reuters reported in 2026 that the oldest conservatives had become the focus of attention in part because a vacancy could give Donald Trump another opportunity to shape the court. ABC News later reported that Thomas was also not expected to retire that year, further reducing the odds of a near-term turnover.

Alito’s choice also delays a confirmation battle that could have become a centerpiece of the next presidential race. If a vacancy opened under a future administration, the winner of the White House could influence the court for decades through a lifetime appointment, while the Senate would control whether that nominee advanced. For Democrats and Republicans alike, each seat now carries outsize value because the court’s current alignment has made individual retirements one of the few ways its balance can shift quickly.

The speculation around Alito intensified after a Wall Street Journal report said he had been taken to the hospital last month. Separate reporting from Jan. 8, 2025, said Alito had spoken by phone with Trump to recommend a former law clerk for a job, a reminder that the justice remains closely watched inside Republican politics even as he extends his tenure on the bench.