Leonard Leo pans 'crass' Alito, Thomas retirement talk

Leonard Leo, a judicial activist who played a central role in the Supreme Court’s conservative shift, panned rumors that two of the court’s leading conservatives might retire so President-elect Trump can replace them. 

Trump’s victory has raised public anticipation that Justice Clarence Thomas, 76, and Justice Samuel Alito, 74, will step down during the president-elect's term, particularly with the Senate slated to be controlled by Republicans. Neither justice has publicly signaled any plans to retire.

“No one other than Justices Thomas and Alito knows when or if they will retire, and talking about them like meat that has reached its expiration date is unwise, uninformed, and, frankly, just crass,” Leo said in a statement.

“Justices Thomas and Alito have given their lives to our country and our Constitution, and should be treated with more dignity and respect than they are getting from some pundits,” Leo added. 

Leo’s comments were first reported by CNN. 

The judicial activist has played an outsize role in the recent ideological shifts on the Supreme Court, helping advise Trump during his first White House term as he nominated three new justices to the bench. 

In Trump's second term, replacing Thomas and Alito would maintain the Supreme Court’s current 6-3 conservative majority and likely cement it for years to come by replacing the two oldest justices with younger jurists.