Rumors swirled 1 that conservative Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito were considering retirement sometime soon. Thomas, 72, was appointed by George H.W. Bush in the early 1990s. Alito, 70, was appointed by George W. Bush in the early 2000s. Both are conservative stalwarts and vacancies of either of their positions could throw the new emboldened conservative majority on the court solidified by Trump’s appointment of Justice Brett Kavanaugh—who replaced swing vote Anthony Kennedy in 2018—into doubt.

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Trump has already left his mark on the Supreme Court, driving it further to the right away from the middle, with the appointment of Kavanaugh to replace Kennedy and Justice Neil Gorsuch who replaced the late Antonin Scalia. But Chief Justice John Roberts, another George W. Bush appointee, has joined the liberal Justices on the Court in some recent key decisions helping hold back a rising potential conservative tide from the nation’s final arbiter of key disputes. But even with Roberts—who also presided, per the Constitution, over the GOP-led U.S. Senate’s impeachment trial that acquitted Trump of charges brought by Democrat-run U.S. House—joining the liberal wing on some decisions, the court is decidedly more conservative than in recent years. . . .

Editor’s Note: Thomas and Alito recently squashed rumors of their upcoming retirement this year. . . .

But even though Thomas and Alito are unlikely to actually leave the court this year, in a second Trump term they very well could retire to make way for younger conservative Justices. That raises the stakes, especially with their advancing age—Scalia died at 79 and both are fast-approaching that age—for this November’s contest between Trump and Biden.

But Thomas and Alito are not the only two current Justices on the nine-seat court whose seats could become vacant, thereby requiring appointment from the president—whoever he may be—to replace them. Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the stalwart liberal Justice, is now 87 years old and constantly faces health issues—as she has been in and out of the hospital for a variety of procedures and ailments in recent years. . . .

All of this means, theoretically, the next president—whether it be Trump re-elected to serve another term, or Biden defeating Trump in November—could expect to appoint as many as four Justices to the Supreme Court in a single term. . . .

Trump ended up, in his first term, getting two Justices confirmed in Gorsuch and Kavanaugh—the Scalia seat and the Kennedy one as the Ronald Reagan-appointed swing vote Justice did end up retiring in 2018. But if Trump is re-elected, and things line up in the clearest way in terms of retirements and deaths, in a second term he could appoint as many six total Justices—four more—to the Supreme Court. That could, if Ginsburg or Breyer either retire or pass away in a second Trump term, mean the liberal minority on the Supreme Court shrinks from four dedicated left-of-center Justices down to just two in Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan.

But the inverse is also true. If Biden ends up winning, he could remake the Supreme Court in a leftist vision, appointing as many as four Justices depending on deaths and retirements from Ginsburg, Breyer, Thomas, and Alito.

So then the question becomes whether voters are okay with what either man intends to do with regard to the court should he win in November. . . .

I will be releasing a new list of Conservative Supreme Court Justice nominees, which may include some, or many of those already on the list, by September 1, 2020. If given the opportunity, I will only choose from this list, as in the past, a Conservative Supreme Court Justice…

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 18, 2020

Biden, on the other hand, has suggested he wants to nominate a black woman to the Supreme Court. But he has not committed to releasing a list of potential nominees, opting to instead unlike Trump keep voters in the dark about what he is thinking about potential picks for the Supreme Court.

(Excerpt from Breitbart . Written by Matthew Boyle.)

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