By Andrew Chung
Aug 7 (Reuters) - U.S. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito tamped down speculation that he could soon retire, telling the Wall Street Journal in an article published on Friday that he intended to remain on the court for at least another term.
"Obviously I'm here for another term," Alito, 76, said in an interview published in the newspaper's opinion section.
The court's new nine-month term - when it hears arguments and issues rulings - begins in October and will run until the end of June
or early July 2027. The justices are currently on their summer recess.
Alito and fellow conservative Justice Clarence Thomas, 78, have faced some calls by conservatives to step down, which would give Republican President Donald Trump a chance to appoint a fourth Supreme Court justice to the lifetime post.
Trump appointed three others during his first term in office - eil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett, giving the court a 6-3 conservative majority that has issued a series of major conservative rulings since 2020.
"It's not pleasant, in the sense that it's a reminder of mortality," Alito told the Journal about the calls to retire. "It's like, what are those vultures doing up there? They are flying around. But it goes with life tenure."
A spokesperson for the Supreme Court did not immediately respond to a request for comment concerning Alito's plans.
Any retirement has taken on greater political significance with the November U.S. congressional elections looming. If Democrats take control of the Senate, they would be expected to try to block Trump's nominee to fill any vacancy created by a retirement or the death of a sitting justice.
The U.S. Constitution assigns the Senate the power to confirm a president's judicial nominations. Republicans currently hold a 53-47 Senate majority.
Alito, who joined the court in 2006 after being appointed by Republican President George W. Bush, has become one of its staunchest conservatives. He all but ensured his legacy by authoring the landmark 2022 decision overruling the 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling that had recognized women's constitutional right to abortion.
He has repeatedly sided with Trump in recent cases, including dissenting from major rulings rejecting the president's efforts to impose sweeping global tariffs, fire Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook, and curtail birthright citizenship.
Asked by the Journal to respond to critics who say he is a rubber stamp for the administration, Alito said, "I vote in every case the way I think the case should be decided."
"If that means a high correlation with what Trump wants, fine. If it means zero correlation with what Trump wants, fine as well," he added.
Alito's forthcoming book, "So Ordered: An Originalist's View of the Constitution, the Court, and Our Country," is set to go on sale on October 6.
(Reporting by Andrew Chung; Editing by Sanjeev Miglani)
