PFAW -- Trump could get a fourth justice before January
Trump could get a fourth justice before January
- Mon, Oct 5 at 5:50 PM
Mark,
When we wrote to you about the possibility of Justice Samuel Alito retiring, it was still just a whisper in Washington.
Now Alito has said it himself.
In a nationally televised interview with CBS News, Alito confirmed he considered retiring this year and will consider it again at the end of the Supreme Court term that began this morning.[1] That means a vacancy could open as soon as June. And if it does, Trump will choose his replacement.
But June may not be the real deadline. It could come much sooner.
Even Trump's allies know a fourth nominee would face a far tougher road if Democrats win back the Senate this November. So think about what happens if Democrats win on Election Day. Republicans would still control the Senate until the new Congress is sworn in on January 3. That would give them a window of roughly eight weeks.
If Alito announced his retirement right after the midterms, Trump could try to rush a nominee through a lame duck Republican Senate before control of the Senate changes hands. Republicans have shown us before that they will do whatever it takes to keep their control of the Supreme Court. We have no reason to believe they'd hesitate now.
We know what kind of nominee Trump will pick. Not a consensus nominee. Not a careful jurist. A young, loyal, ideologically extreme judge drawn from the same right-wing pipeline that produced the Court that overturned Roe v. Wade. Someone who could sit on the bench for decades.
And Alito has no second thoughts about the damage. In the same interview, he defended his decision to strike down Roe, saying it "required courage." A justice in his mold, decades younger, would carry that extreme agenda forward on abortion, voting rights, LGBTQ+ equality, and unchecked presidential power for a generation.
And this isn't only about our rights. It's about our wallets. While families struggle with the cost of groceries, rent, and health care, this right-wing MAGA Court has repeatedly sided with big corporations and the wealthy over working people. It has weakened unions, made it harder to hold corporations accountable in court, and stripped power from the agencies that protect consumers from price gouging and corporate abuse. Another Trump justice would be one more guaranteed vote for the billionaires at your expense.
That's why we have to fight on two fronts at once. We have to win back the Senate in November. And we have to be fully ready for a confirmation fight that could begin the very next morning.
For more than 40 years, People For the American Way has been in this fight, through confirmation battles that made headlines and lower court fights that shaped the law just as much. This year alone, we have scrutinized and opposed Trump's extreme nominees at every level of the federal judiciary.
Right now, our team is getting ready for whatever comes next. That means:
- Digging into the records of every judge on Trump's likely shortlist
- Preparing rapid response messaging that exposes a nominee's extreme positions
- Building coalitions and grassroots pressure in the states whose senators will decide this
- Readying public education campaigns to expose a lame duck power grab the moment it begins
A rushed lame duck confirmation is designed to move faster than the public can react. Our job is to make sure that doesn't happen. That work has to be done now, not after the announcement.
Supreme Court justices serve for life. The person who takes Alito's seat will decide who controls their own body, who gets to cast a ballot, who is protected under the law, and whether working families get a fair shake against corporate power, long after Trump leaves office.
Alito is thinking about his future on the Court. We're thinking about the future of everyone the Court touches. And we will not let a defeated Senate majority steal one more seat on its way out the door.
In solidarity,
People For the American Way
[1] "Justice Alito confirms he is considering retirement" Politico, 10/2/26
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