He remains energetic and engaged as a justice—and even invigorated in some ways by the Trump administration, as its foremost defender at One First Street.
Did Justice Alito hire clerks for this term? If he did, he did so knowing when his book would be scheduled, and has done those clerks a real disservice. If he didn't, I think you would have come to a much different conclusion. You didn't, and he did. So I think that weighs into your side of the argument.
To be honest, where Justice Alito stands in his clerk hiring is a bit unclear. I've heard that he has hired multiple clerks for October Term 2026—but as of this writing, I've been able to confirm only one of them (if anyone reading this knows of others, please drop me a line):
I agree with your prediction David. As you know?, I grew up in South Jersey. Mrs. Alito went to my high school in Mount Holly! I believe I was a lowly freshman when she was a senior. We did not, so far as I know, cross any closer paths there!
I clerked in Newark N.J. federal district court. Justice Alito was then the AG for N.J. I remember a round of Christmas parties the judges threw and he was shy even there. I, a lowly clerk, went over to talk to him as he was by himself. Shortly thereafter that he went to the Third Circuit and I went to his investiture.
U.S. Attorney. And yes, I saw him around Newark as well, when I was an AUSA and he was a judge. He was known as nice, but reserved.
He did have a sly sense of humor. After one of the district judges (who thought highly of herself) placed grandiose lion statues on either side of the front door of her chambers, Alito installed gaudy, plastic pink flamingos outside his.
As an institutionalist, I sincerely hope that you are right. While any successor, if picked this year, would share his view of the law, I fear what the confirmation process will do to our already bitterly divided nation and its fragile trust in our courts, trust that has markedly decreased ever since the first Trump term. So, I state here what I have mentioned on other platforms. As to your first footnote, just why is the instinct of so many to run to the picks with the most extreme, culture-war heavy, partisan records? Yes, much of the commentary here is aimed at judges Ho and Oldham. They both seem to be constantly auditioning, if that word still retains its intended meaning. Why is it that administration officials would consider someone like James Ho to be far less effective, and therefore not suitable, based on his record of writing separately? Or failing to persuade others, even conservatives, to his extreme views of the law? Why, too, should we bless such tactics, when it is in fact it is those methodical, principled, nonpartisan judges throughout our system that through their work maintain this branch's legitimacy in the eyes of all, not just one party's base? All of this to say, wouldn't it be sending the wrong messages to activists and judges from either end of the ideological spectrum that, the more culture war rhetoric you use, the more "red meat" you give to the base, the more flashy you appear in your writing, now the more likely you are to get elevated? Perhaps this is more an indictment on our current culture, pushed by many on both sides, of how we now select nominees. But if Justice Alito retires, I fear what will come next, what will now be normalized, and what the pressure campaign to confirm whoever the nominee will be, will do to our institutions, which, I might add, are critical (emphasis added) to checking government overreach.
Apropos of your comment, my prediction reflects a certain amount of projection: I don’t WANT Justice Alito to retire now (mainly because I’m already having a hard time keeping up with the news, and the last thing I need is another SCOTUS retirement and confirmation battle to cover).
this is (somewhat) a Trump-specific phenomenon. Lots of people have a variety of gripes with Justices Jackson, Kagan, and Sotomayor, but they were not the most extreme possibilities for either of the Presidents who chose them. Whether we return to the Bush-era proclivities for Republican SCOTUS selections under the next GOP President is an open question, but I think obfuscating this as a "both sides" issue undersells the degree to which Trump and the McConnell-verse has prioritized ideological rigidity and partisanship in their nominees over some other characteristics. That's why you see Oldham and Ho bandied about so much more than Bibas, Newsom, or Bumatay, who are better judges.
Well, Trump’s first term gave us two nominees who voted against his tariffs. And the two justices most likely to vote for the administration today are not the Trump appointees. But I agree with you that if Trump gets another nominee, he will try his best to ensure he picks someone who will vote his way.
I think the point is that, as demonstrated by Trump's reaction, that wasn't the goal during the nomination process. Part of what's good about the judiciary is that once someone like Gorsuch is there, there's not too much accountability (unlike e.g. Thom Tillis).
Did Justice Alito hire clerks for this term? If he did, he did so knowing when his book would be scheduled, and has done those clerks a real disservice. If he didn't, I think you would have come to a much different conclusion. You didn't, and he did. So I think that weighs into your side of the argument.
To be honest, where Justice Alito stands in his clerk hiring is a bit unclear. I've heard that he has hired multiple clerks for October Term 2026—but as of this writing, I've been able to confirm only one of them (if anyone reading this knows of others, please drop me a line):
https://davidlat.substack.com/p/supreme-court-clerk-hiring-october-term-ot-2026-2027-scotus-clerkships
I agree with your prediction David. As you know?, I grew up in South Jersey. Mrs. Alito went to my high school in Mount Holly! I believe I was a lowly freshman when she was a senior. We did not, so far as I know, cross any closer paths there!
Oh wow, small world!
I clerked in Newark N.J. federal district court. Justice Alito was then the AG for N.J. I remember a round of Christmas parties the judges threw and he was shy even there. I, a lowly clerk, went over to talk to him as he was by himself. Shortly thereafter that he went to the Third Circuit and I went to his investiture.
U.S. Attorney. And yes, I saw him around Newark as well, when I was an AUSA and he was a judge. He was known as nice, but reserved.
He did have a sly sense of humor. After one of the district judges (who thought highly of herself) placed grandiose lion statues on either side of the front door of her chambers, Alito installed gaudy, plastic pink flamingos outside his.
As an institutionalist, I sincerely hope that you are right. While any successor, if picked this year, would share his view of the law, I fear what the confirmation process will do to our already bitterly divided nation and its fragile trust in our courts, trust that has markedly decreased ever since the first Trump term. So, I state here what I have mentioned on other platforms. As to your first footnote, just why is the instinct of so many to run to the picks with the most extreme, culture-war heavy, partisan records? Yes, much of the commentary here is aimed at judges Ho and Oldham. They both seem to be constantly auditioning, if that word still retains its intended meaning. Why is it that administration officials would consider someone like James Ho to be far less effective, and therefore not suitable, based on his record of writing separately? Or failing to persuade others, even conservatives, to his extreme views of the law? Why, too, should we bless such tactics, when it is in fact it is those methodical, principled, nonpartisan judges throughout our system that through their work maintain this branch's legitimacy in the eyes of all, not just one party's base? All of this to say, wouldn't it be sending the wrong messages to activists and judges from either end of the ideological spectrum that, the more culture war rhetoric you use, the more "red meat" you give to the base, the more flashy you appear in your writing, now the more likely you are to get elevated? Perhaps this is more an indictment on our current culture, pushed by many on both sides, of how we now select nominees. But if Justice Alito retires, I fear what will come next, what will now be normalized, and what the pressure campaign to confirm whoever the nominee will be, will do to our institutions, which, I might add, are critical (emphasis added) to checking government overreach.
Apropos of your comment, my prediction reflects a certain amount of projection: I don’t WANT Justice Alito to retire now (mainly because I’m already having a hard time keeping up with the news, and the last thing I need is another SCOTUS retirement and confirmation battle to cover).
this is (somewhat) a Trump-specific phenomenon. Lots of people have a variety of gripes with Justices Jackson, Kagan, and Sotomayor, but they were not the most extreme possibilities for either of the Presidents who chose them. Whether we return to the Bush-era proclivities for Republican SCOTUS selections under the next GOP President is an open question, but I think obfuscating this as a "both sides" issue undersells the degree to which Trump and the McConnell-verse has prioritized ideological rigidity and partisanship in their nominees over some other characteristics. That's why you see Oldham and Ho bandied about so much more than Bibas, Newsom, or Bumatay, who are better judges.
Well, Trump’s first term gave us two nominees who voted against his tariffs. And the two justices most likely to vote for the administration today are not the Trump appointees. But I agree with you that if Trump gets another nominee, he will try his best to ensure he picks someone who will vote his way.
I think the point is that, as demonstrated by Trump's reaction, that wasn't the goal during the nomination process. Part of what's good about the judiciary is that once someone like Gorsuch is there, there's not too much accountability (unlike e.g. Thom Tillis).