Supreme Court Justice Alito says he will not retire in 2026

Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito has definitively stated he will not retire this year, ending months of speculation fueled by a mistaken news report and political conjecture. In a rare interview published on Friday, August 7, 2026, the 76-year-old justice told The Wall Street Journal he is committed to serving another full term on the nation's highest court.

"Obviously I'm here for another term," Alito said, directly addressing the rumors. He described the persistent questions about his retirement as unpleasant, likening them to vultures circling as a reminder of mortality, but noted that such speculation "goes with life tenure."

The retirement speculation intensified in late June after National Public Radio (NPR) erroneously published and then swiftly retracted a story announcing Alito's retirement. Veteran legal affairs correspondent Nina Totenberg later explained she had misheard an announcement about staff retirements while leaving the courtroom and mistakenly concluded it pertained to Justice Alito. She called the error "the worst professional mistake of my more than 50 years in journalism." The Supreme Court's public information office denied any retirement announcement...