Justice Samuel Alito is one of the most reliable conservative jurists on the bench. We’re lucky he was confirmed during the Bush White House, as Democrats today would’ve set the Senate floor on fire to block his nomination. Alito was confirmed when the judicial filibuster was still in place. Today, Democrats who voted for cloture would’ve been dragged through the streets. 

Alito is mulling retirement, a fact National Public Radio exposed when it jumped the gun and announced his departure from the Supreme Court on the last day of the October 2025 term. It was classic fake news, but the jurist, who has served since 2006 and is 76, says he’ll consider leaving the bench next year. No doubt he wants to see the Senate’s makeup for next year’s congressional session. That part was a bit overblown Friday: ‘Alito is announcing that he might consider retiring next year.’ 

This is like getting excited for the trailer of a movie that’s set to be released three years from now — calm down. What is interesting is that he disclosed to Fox News’ Shannon Bream that he might know who leaked the Dobbs opinion, the landmark case that overturned Roe v. Wade and returned the decision on the very touchy subject of abortion to the states. Contrary to the hysterics, it did not ban abortion.

Yet the associate justice stopped short of saying who he thought it was, noting the lack of evidence to make this disclosure public. He did, however, seem certain that he has the right person. And the fact that the leaker was never found remains an abject failure and a national embarrassment. 

Shannon Bream: “Do you have an opinion about who you think the leaker was?” 

Justice Samuel Alito: “I do have an opinion, but the evidence available at this time is not strong enough for the court or for me to say this is the person who was responsible.”

The retirement talk is going to get liberals giddy, perhaps thinking the GOP has its own Ruth Bader Ginsburg moment, the late jurist who famously refused to retire under Obama, later died during the first Trump presidency, and who was replaced by Amy Coney Barrett, who has, thus far, been an immense disappointment. 

Recommended
So the Latest New York Times Poll Is a Load of Garbage, Right? Joe Chalfant Illegal Alien Gets 24 Months for Using Dead Man's Identity to Collect Government Benefits Scott McClallen