Samuel Alito reveals biggest challenges to Supreme Court as justice addresses rumors he's retiring

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Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito revealed some of the biggest challenges ahead, as he addressed rumors of his retirement.

Published: 04:39 GMT, 13 November 2026 | Updated: 05:18 GMT, 13 November 2026

Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito used rare public remarks Thursday to weigh in on everything from the use of artificial intelligence in the courts to the rise of the so-called ‘emergency docket’ appeals – even as he maintained that in his view, the judiciary is the least dangerous form of government.

Speaking to Mollie Hemingway at the Scalia Memorial Dinner, Justice Alito spoke easily as he mulled what he described as the biggest challenges for the high court, as it looks to address both institutional concerns as well as the uptick in cases brought to the high court via the so-called ‘emergency docket.’

Asked about the ‘shadow docket,’ or the process by which presidents can seek emergency relief from the Supreme Court, Alito attributed the sharp uptick in cases to two things.

‘The first is that presidents have become very frustrated with their inability to get Congress to enact their wider legislative agendas, and so they have looked for ways to do as much as they can unilaterally, with their own powers,’ he said.

The second, Alito said, was the rise of lawsuits brought by both political parties to district courts across the country.

Today, he noted, there are 680 district judges in the US. ‘They are dedicated and they are skillful, but they are not perfect,’ he said. ‘They make mistakes. And in some instances, I think they have gone too far. Tinkering with rules in recent years.’

Earlier in the evening, Alito compared the three branches of government to a ‘hand grenade,’ a 500-pound bomb, and a nuclear weapon, to make the point that the federal judiciary is the least dangerous branch – though not entirely free from threats.

The hand grenade ‘is the least dangerous, but that’s not to say it’s not dangerous,’ Alito said.

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