Amid swirling rumors of potential exits from the Supreme Court — and recent comments made by President Donald Trump — sources close to Justices Samuel Alito, 76, and Clarence Thomas, 77, told CBS News they have no plans to retire this year.
The reports likely close any window Trump would’ve had to nominate a fourth justice to the high court before the midterm elections in November.
The news of Alito’s intention to stay was first reported by Fox News.
Speculation about potential upcoming vacancies was heightened after Trump told Fox Business’s Maria Bartiromo earlier this week that he was “prepared” to nominate “two or three” justices, if any vacancies were to open up during his tenure.
“I don’t know. It’s possible, you know. In theory, it’s two or three, they tell me,” Trump said. “If you just read statistics, it could be two, could be three, could be one. I don’t know.”
