NPR wrongly reports Samuel Alito retirement — but insiders suspect he might exit Supreme Court in coming weeks
See more of our coverage in your search results.
NPR retracted a story Tuesday announcing the departure of Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito — but multiple sources close to the conservative legal movement tell The Post there is indeed buzz that he may retire before the November midterm elections.
The formerly publicly funded outlet posted the story, written by longtime legal affairs correspondent Nina Totenberg, moments after the Supreme Court finished its 2025-26 term, and cited a statement from the court’s press office.
However, no such announcement was made, nor did Alito make any comment from the bench about his future.
“NPR’s reporting regarding Justice Alito is inaccurate. And their reporting that there was any kind of court statement is inaccurate,” court spokesperson Patricia McCabe told Politico.
It’s common practice for major news outlets to pre-write articles on major looming events, such as the deaths of prominent people, which are sometimes published by accident. But it’s unclear what exactly happened.
NPR editor in chief Tommy Evans said that the inaccurate report was published “[d]ue to a misunderstanding.”
“As soon as the error was realized, the story was retracted and removed from NPR’s website and an on-air correction was broadcast,” Evans added, noting that Totenberg had “reached out to Justice Alito to apologize.”
One source said that the faux scoop notably aligned with “scuttlebutt” among leading DC conservatives who watch the courts.
Another insider close to legal developments said that the article seemed to reflect that “they know it’s coming, just pushed [publish] too soon.”
A well-connected Republican operative noted that many people close to President Trump quietly hope Alito will retire — allowing Trump to replace one of his most closely aligned jurists with another like-minded judge before the opportunity passes.
If Republicans lose the Senate in the Nov. 3 midterms, Trump likely would need to compromise with Democrats and pick a more moderate candidate.
Morning Report delivers the latest news, videos, photos and more.
Prominent journalists do sometimes botch stories, but Totenberg is considered so well plugged in at the Supreme Court that her involvement added heft to suspicions that she pre-emptively published actual news.
Totenberg, 82, has worked at NPR since 1975 and has repeatedly won praise for her reporting on the inner workings of the Supreme Court. She established a decades-long friendship with the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who officiated at Totenberg’s second wedding in 2000.
Following Ginsburg’s death in 2020, Totenberg and NPR were criticized — including by the outlet’s then-public editor, Kelly McBride — for not being more forthcoming about her friendship with Ginsburg earlier.
Alito, 76, joined the high court in 2006 as an appointee of President George W. Bush, filling the vacancy caused by the retirement of Justice Sandra Day O’Connor. He’s not the most senior member of the high court, however. Conservative Justice Clarence Thomas, 78, is the oldest justice and was appointed by President George H.W. Bush in 1991.
Trump nominated three justices who were confirmed to the Supreme Court during his first term — Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett.
If Alito retired, the 47th president would get a fourth pick, the most of any president since Dwight D. Eisenhower.
Last year, Congress yanked more than $1 billion from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which partially funds NPR. Trump had previously issued an executive order to revoke its taxpayer funding.
That dealt a blow to local stations that pay NPR for programming, even though the outlet admitted direct federal grants accounted for less than 1% of its budget.
NPR relies on fees from those member stations, many of which are under severe financial strain since the federal funding was pulled, though the freeze will only remain in effect for a two-year period.