Donald Trump had a major impact on the Supreme Court during his first term in office.
He’ll have another chance to reshape the federal judiciary when he returns to the White House.
And a legal expert made one prediction about Clarence Thomas’ future that surprised everyone.
Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito’s futures come into focus
One of the biggest successes of President-elect Donald Trump’s first term in office was his judicial appointments.
He managed to appoint three Supreme Court Justices during his first four years.
This term, he could get the chance to appoint more justices to the high court.
Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas is the longest-serving Justice on the Court after he was appointed in 1991.
The 76-year-old is still going strong and is the leader of the conservatives on the Court.
Justice Samuel Alito is 74 years old and battles Thomas for the title of being the most conservative Justice on the High Court.
The age of Thomas and Alito has raised questions if they would seek to retire during Trump’s final term so they could ensure they’re replaced by a Republican appointee.
Currently, the Supreme Court has a 6-3 majority of Republican-appointed Justices.
Trump potentially appointing replacements for Thomas and Alito could ensure the Supreme Court has a conservative majority for the next thirty years.
Sticking around past Trump’s Presidency potentially creates a situation where a Democrat President could appoint Thomas and Alito’s successors if Republicans lost the 2028 Election.
A Democrat President appointing their replacements would flip control of the Court to a 5-4 left-wing majority.
Clarence Thomas ally speaks about his future
The plans of Thomas and Alito are going to be a subject of intrigue during Trump’s Presidency.
A source close to Alito told the Wall Street Journal that a potential succession plan isn’t on the mind of the Supreme Court Justice.
“Despite what some people may think, this is a man who has never thought about this job from a political perspective,” a person close to Alito told the Journal. “The idea that he’s going to retire for political considerations is not consistent with who he is.”
Alito was appointed to the Supreme Court by former President George W. Bush in 2006.
He’s hiring law clerks for the 2025-2026 term, which is a sign that he’s not getting ready to step aside immediately.
Former Federalist Society Vice President Leonard Leo is one of the leading conservative legal activists.
He helped with all three of Trump’s Supreme Court selections during his first term in office.
Leo dismissed the idea that Alito or Thomas was ready to step down from the Supreme Court.
“No one other than Justices Thomas and Alito knows when or if they will retire, and talking about them like meat that has reached its expiration date is unwise, uninformed, and, frankly, just crass,” Leo said.
The Supreme Court is an institution that Democrats are desperate to gain control of because it serves as a roadblock to their most extreme policies.
What happens with Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito over the next four years will be a subject of great intrigue.
