On Friday, a new report by the Washington Post revealed how one Supreme Court justice’s alliance with President Donald Trump has pushed the court further to the right. According to Supreme Court reporter Justin Jouvenal, Justice Samuel Alito has become increasingly emboldened in his efforts to assert Trump’s agenda. “Alito, 76, has achieved new prominence on the court in the Trump era,” writes Jouvenal. “As the president’s agenda has come to dominate the court’s docket, Alito has boosted his profile as its most unwavering supporter. His unabashed conservative voice on race, transgender rights and other culture war issues resonates with Trump and his base.” Alito has denied rumors that he intends to retire, which would provide Trump an opportunity to pick his fourth Justice, apparently because he still believes he can continue the court’s march to the right himself.
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Peter Canellos, who has written a book about Alito called Revenge for the Sixties, told the Post that “this is his moment,” asserting Alito “is at the peak of his powers… Many of the battles on the court are among conservatives between a more traditionalist approach with Chief Justice Roberts, and Alito’s approach, which is to move the law in a more conservative direction. Alito feels like he can win a lot of those battles.” According to Jouvenal, Alito has backed the Trump administration in every major case it has brought before the high court during the president’s second term, including his break with the majority when the court blocked Trump’s sweeping tariffs, proposed ban on birthright citizenship and attempted to federalize mail-in voting.
Richard Lazarus, a law professor at Harvard University, told the Post that Alito has evolved in a way that has brought him more in concert with the Trump wing of the Republican Party, adding “he is a very different Alito than he was a few decades ago.” While Alito was always reliably conservative, he used to fit a more Reagan mold, Lazarus said. “Alito has, in my view, moved far to the right and with a very different personality,” Lazarus asserted. “His voice, his opinions and his votes are now loud, they’re mocking and they’re contentious.”
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According to Jouvenal, “Legal experts said Alito’s sentiments, which are sometimes couched in grievance, share a similar style with Trump. As does the sense that an older America is slipping away. In his book, Alito portrays traditional values as under siege. J. Joel Alicea, a Catholic University law professor and former Alito clerk, said Alito has become adept at writing opinions that are extremely conservative while still bringing along other justices. ‘[Alito] doesn’t produce opinions that get five votes that kind of feel like a political compromise,’ Alicea said. ‘He writes opinions that get five votes, and each justice feels their own originalist and conservative principles are respected.’”
If the Democrats take the Senate in November, as polls suggest is possible, Jouvenal notes that it could put fresh pressure on Alito to resign as the lame-duck period between November and January would be Trump’s last chance to get a nominee through a Republican-controlled Congress. Alito, however, asserts that he is not retiring, saying in a recent interview that he intends to stay through the term.
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