Senate Republicans would move to confirm a replacement for Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito before the midterm elections, should he choose to retire in the coming weeks.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) told the Washington Examiner on Tuesday that Republicans are “prepared” for the possibility of a retirement as speculation swirls that Alito, a conservative vote on the Supreme Court, is weighing stepping down at the end of the current term, slated for the end of June or early July.
“That’s a contingency, I think, around here you always have to be prepared for. And if that were to happen, yes, we would be prepared to confirm,” Thune said.
Thune clarified that a vote would happen before voters go to the polls in November for an election that could decide control of the upper chamber. The midterm map favors Republicans, who hold a three-seat majority in the Senate, but Democrats could retake power if a blue wave materializes.
Alito, 76, has not publicly signaled whether he will step down, but he is thought to want to avoid the fate that befell Democrats when they lost the seat of the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg in President Donald Trump’s first term. Today, conservatives hold a 6-3 majority on the court, and Trump got to replace Ginsburg upon her death in 2020 with Justice Amy Coney Barrett. The president also appointed Justices Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh.
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Retirement rumors have primarily centered on Alito, though conservative Justice Clarence Thomas is 77 and the oldest member on the bench.
“I hope they stay ’cause I think they’re fantastic, OK?” Trump told Politico in December 2025. “Both of those men are fantastic.”