Justice Samuel Alito has no plans to step down from the Supreme Court this term and has already hired all four law clerks for the upcoming annual session, Fox News Digital reported, citing multiple sources familiar with the matter. The reporting pours cold water on weeks of intensifying retirement speculation that had Washington bracing for a confirmation fight.
One source told Fox News Digital that Alito "is not stepping down this term and is in the process of hiring the rest of his clerks for the next term." Justices tend to hire their clerks two to three years in advance, a detail that signals Alito is thinking well beyond the current calendar.
The 76-year-old justice, nominated by President George W. Bush in 2005, has served on the nation's highest court for two decades. His age, his lengthy tenure, and a health scare last month had fueled talk that he might retire while a Republican president and a Republican Senate could secure a like-minded successor.
Alito was treated for dehydration last month after becoming ill at a Federalist Society dinner. A Supreme Court spokesperson said he was "thoroughly checked" and quickly returned to the bench. But the episode gave oxygen to retirement chatter that had already been building around his 20-year milestone on the Court.
The current term lasts until the Supreme Court's new year kicks off in October. With Alito now signaling through his clerk hires that he intends to stay, the immediate pressure on the Senate to gear up for a confirmation battle eases, at least for now.
President Donald Trump made clear he is ready to act if any vacancy opens. Speaking with Fox Business host Maria Bartiromo, Trump addressed the possibility head-on:
"In theory, it's two or three, they tell me, if you just read statistics, it could be two, could be three, could be one. I don't know. I'm prepared to do it. But when you mention Alito, he is a great justice."
Trump went further, calling Alito "one of the great justices of our time" and describing him as being "in very good physical health." He also called Alito "an unbelievable justice." The president's praise was notable, warm enough to honor a sitting justice, careful enough not to push him toward the exit. As we reported earlier, Trump has signaled readiness to fill up to three seats if the opportunity arises.
Justice Clarence Thomas, one year older than Alito at 77, has drawn less retirement speculation. Thomas has served on the Court for more than three decades and holds the record as the second-longest serving justice in history.
Even with Alito apparently staying put, Republican leaders on Capitol Hill have made clear they will not be caught flat-footed. Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, told reporters earlier this week that his committee is "fully prepared" to process a nominee before the midterm elections if a vacancy materializes.
Grassley went a step further, naming two sitting senators as his top recommendations. He said he would suggest Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, or Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, as candidates if Alito were to retire. Both are former Supreme Court clerks and constitutional lawyers with deep conservative credentials, the kind of picks that would energize the right and alarm the left in equal measure.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., echoed the preparedness theme on Tuesday. Just The News reported that Thune told the Washington Examiner:
"That's a contingency I think around here you always have to be prepared for. And if that were to happen, yes, we would be prepared to confirm."
Thune also acknowledged the political math driving the urgency. The Washington Examiner reported that Thune framed the timing in blunt terms: "But if you were going to do something, obviously doing it when we have an opportunity, control of the Senate and the White House and everything else, is obviously, from a timing standpoint, would be certainly our preference." Republicans hold the Senate now. Whether they hold it after the 2026 midterms is an open question, and every GOP leader in Washington knows it.
The political logic behind the speculation is straightforward. If Alito retired while Republicans control both the White House and the Senate, President Trump could potentially nominate and confirm a fourth Supreme Court justice, a generational achievement that would cement conservative influence on the Court for decades. Lose the Senate in the midterms, and that window slams shut.
That calculus explains why Senate Republicans have been eyeing the midterm clock with increasing urgency. It also explains why Democrats are already positioning to resist.
Democrats have signaled they would fight any Trump Supreme Court nominee, invoking the precedent set when Republicans blocked President Obama's nomination of Merrick Garland in 2016. The irony is thick: Democrats spent years calling that blockade illegitimate, and now they want to borrow the same playbook. Meanwhile, Kamala Harris has rallied donors behind a multimillion-dollar effort aimed at blocking future Trump picks.
The retirement talk did not appear overnight. It grew steadily as observers noted Alito's age, his two-decade tenure, the health episode at the Federalist Society dinner, and the political window created by unified Republican control in Washington. Legal scholars pointed to his 20-year milestone and other signals as evidence that a departure could be near.
But hiring four clerks for next term is not the action of a man packing his bags. It is a concrete, forward-looking commitment, the kind justices make when they intend to stay on the bench.
The reporting leaves several threads dangling. No one knows what names sit on Trump's shortlist of potential nominees beyond Grassley's public suggestions of Cruz and Lee. The president's remark that vacancies "could be two, could be three, could be one" leaves open the possibility that other justices, Thomas among them, might also be weighing their futures, though no reporting supports that conclusion at this point.
And while Alito's clerk hires suggest stability, the Court's calendar only runs through October. A retirement announcement could still come at the end of the term, as is traditional. "Not this term" is not "not ever."
For now, though, the machinery of Washington will have to idle. The confirmation battle everyone was gearing up for has been postponed, not canceled, but postponed.
The left wanted Alito gone so they could scream about whoever came next. The right wanted him to stay or go on his own terms. What actually happened is the simplest outcome of all: a 76-year-old justice hired his clerks and went back to work. Washington will have to find something else to panic about, at least until October.