U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justices Samuel Alito (L) and Clarence Thomas on January 20, 2025 in Washington, DC. Chip Somodevilla/Pool via REUTERS
Former federal prosecutor Elie Honig made it clear that there is no way that President Donald Trump will ever get a Supreme Court nominee through the Democratic-held U.S. Senate. Particularly after what Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) did with Merrick Garland.
McConnell at the time that because the election was close, former President Barack Obama couldn't get another justice confirmed. The election was a year away. Yet, months before Trump's failed election, Republicans jammed through one of their conservative judges so that President Joe Biden didn't have the option. Democrats likely have a score to settle in that respect.
Conservative Justices Samuel Alito, 76, and Clarence Thomas, 78, have no intention of retiring in the lame duck session.
"Had there been a vacancy at any point over the last 22 months, and people were primarily focused on Alito and Thomas, then Donald Trump could have chosen a replacement. And that person almost certainly would have sailed through the U.S. Senate," Honig explained.
He said that the tables have turned as Democrats take control. He also agreed that Democrats still remember the McConnell "double-cross of 2016."
"Democrats remember that, and they're looking for revenge," Honig said, citing specific senators who are eager to pull the same thing over on the GOP.
"So, I think that window has closed. I don't think we're going to see Donald Trump get another Supreme Court nominee through, even if there is a vacancy," he added.
It prompted CNN host Wolf Blitzer to ask whether either justice could announce their retirement mid-term to get a new justice through in the two-year lame duck session.
"Theoretically, yes. There's nothing in the law or Constitution preventing Alito, Thomas or anyone else from resigning today," Honig said. "But it's good to see our new reporting, because I've been speculating up until now that that would absolutely not happen. And I think our reporting confirms that it would be so obviously inconspicuously political for an Alito to retire now in the wake of these midterms."
He added that as much as they like to claim they're not political, retirements are calculated. For Alito to do this "would be a mark for him that he could not escape."