WASHINGTON — Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito confirmed Friday he’s staying on the nation’s highest court, weeks after a swell of speculation about a possible retirement.
“Obviously, I’m here for another term,” Alito, 76, said in an interview published in The Wall Street Journal’s editorial section.
Discussion of Alito’s future hit a fever pitch in June, when a mistake by a veteran Supreme Court reporter at National Public Radio resulted in the erroneous publication of a previously prepared retirement story.
The story was quickly retracted and the court confirmed it was inaccurate, but that did not stop the talk about what Alito might do. A retirement would likely have given Republican President Donald Trump a chance to name a fourth Supreme Court justice.
In a rare interview in his chambers, Alito also discussed the state of the court, rejecting the idea that political partisanship affects his decisions.
“I vote in every case the way I think the case should be decided,” he said. “If that means a high correlation with what Trump wants, fine. If it means zero correlation with what Trump wants, fine as well.”