{"id":56697,"date":"2026-05-04T17:35:09","date_gmt":"2026-05-04T17:35:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/56697\/"},"modified":"2026-05-04T17:35:09","modified_gmt":"2026-05-04T17:35:09","slug":"thomas-alito-roberts-face-removal-from-supreme-court-under-proposed-law","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/56697\/","title":{"rendered":"Thomas, Alito, Roberts Face Removal from Supreme Court Under Proposed Law"},"content":{"rendered":"

Democratic Representative Johnny Olszewski of Maryland is expected to propose a law on Monday that would\u00a0establish\u00a018-year term limits for Supreme Court<\/a> justices and would mean the removal of\u00a0Chief Justice John Roberts<\/a>, Justice Clarence Thomas<\/a> and Justice Samuel Alito<\/a> if passed.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The constitutional amendment called the Reform of Bench Eligibility (ROBE) Act would also end Supreme Court\u00a0lifetime appointments, apply to current justices\u00a0and include provisions for a “fair and orderly transition” to the new system, according to a press release from Olszewski\u2019s office.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The proposal comes as trust in the Supreme Court\u00a0remains\u00a0at historic lows, according to polling.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

A poll by NBC News released in March found that 22 percent of registered voters nationally said they have a “great deal” or “quite a bit” of confidence in the Supreme Court, 40 percent said they had “some” confidence and 38 percent said they had “very little” or “no” confidence. The poll surveyed 1,000 registered voters from February 27 to March 3 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points.\u00a0<\/p>\n

A Gallup poll released in October of last year found that 49 percent of Americans say they trust the Supreme Court either “a great deal” (16 percent) or “a fair amount” (33 percent).\u00a0<\/p>\n

“That level of trust is among the lowest in Gallup\u2019s trend, essentially matching the low point of 47 percent from 2022,” Gallup said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The legislation is unlikely to pass in the Republican-controlled House of Representatives and Senate.\u00a0The Supreme Court currently has a 6-3 conservative majority.\u00a0A law proposing\u00a0term limits for the Supreme Court introduced last year, titled the\u00a0Supreme Court Term Limits and Regular Appointments Act of 2025<\/a>, was referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary, but it did not advance further.\u00a0<\/p>\n

What is the ROBE Act?<\/p>\n

Olszewski\u2019s office said the ROBE Act would create lower stakes around Supreme Court nominations, promote a more consistent appointment process and rebuild trust in the court.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“Faith in the Court depends on its legitimacy as a fair and independent institution,” Olszewski said. “Recent rulings that have thrown out decades of legal precedent, combined with ethically dubious behavior by sitting judges, are testing that faith. Justices should not be hobnobbing at White\u00a0House\u00a0dinners and flying on the private jets of friends who have business before the Court. By\u00a0establishing\u00a0term limits, we can reduce the political gamesmanship surrounding appointments, restore balance to the process, and strengthen the integrity of the Court.”\u00a0<\/p>\n

Olszewski\u2019s office said modern tenure lengths are the longest in U.S. history and decisions on retirement from the bench have become more strategic, “often aligned with the political preferences of the sitting president.”\u00a0<\/p>\n

Which Justices Would be Affected by the ROBE Act?<\/p>\n

Thomas is the longest-serving justice\u00a0on\u00a0the current court. He was appointed by President George H.W. Bush in 1991 and has served for over 34 years.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Alito and Roberts were both appointed by President George W. Bush and have served on the court for over 20 years.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The three are the only justices who have served over 18 years on the current court.<\/p>\n

There has been speculation about Thomas and Alito, who are the current court\u2019s oldest justices at 77 and 76,\u00a0retiring<\/a>.\u00a0Thomas and Alito\u00a0are not planning to retire this year,\u00a0CBS News\u00a0reported, citing sources close to each of the justices.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Trump said in an interview with\u00a0Fox Business Network\u2019s Maria Bartiromo last month that he is “prepared” to name another justice if one or more retire.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

“It could be two, could be three, could be one. I\u00a0don\u2019t\u00a0know\u2014I\u2019m\u00a0prepared to do it,” he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

There has been less speculation about Thomas\u2019 retirement,\u00a0The Hill\u00a0reported.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Alito became ill at an event in Philadelphia\u00a0in March\u00a0and was treated for dehydration. He did not stay at the hospital overnight and returned to court the following Monday.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The expected release date of Alito\u2019s\u00a0new book<\/a>\u00a0has also led legal experts to\u00a0speculate\u00a0that he might have plans to retire this year. The book,\u00a0So Ordered: An Originalist\u2019s View of the Constitution, the Court, and Our Country, is scheduled to be released on October 6.\u00a0The first day of arguments in the Supreme Court\u2019s 2026-2027 term is set for October 5.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Elie\u00a0Mystal, a legal analyst and justice correspondent for\u00a0The Nation, said in a column: “It sure feels like Alito doesn\u2019t plan on having a real job the Tuesday his book launches and instead thinks he\u2019ll be free to run around the country promoting it.”\u00a0<\/p>\n

Georgetown University Law Center professor Steve Vladeck said in his newsletter,\u00a0One First, that “the October publication date is a pretty big tell since one can\u2019t exactly go on a book tour during the first argument session of the term.”\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

David Lat, a legal journalist, expressed a different view in a\u00a0Bloomberg Law\u00a0column.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

“As for the Oct. 6 publication date, I\u2019m assuming Alito and his publisher simply wanted to take advantage of the spike in media coverage of the court that the start of a new term brings,” he said. “Yes, this will curtail Alito\u2019s ability to go on a book tour or do signings, but I\u2019m guessing that\u2019s a feature, not a bug, from the justice\u2019s point of view.”\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Do you have a story that Newsweek should be covering? Do you have any questions about this story? Contact\u00a0LiveNews@newsweek.com<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Democratic Representative Johnny Olszewski of Maryland is expected to propose a law on Monday that would\u00a0establish\u00a018-year term limits…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":56698,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[146],"tags":[7554,535,7030,536,24130],"class_list":{"0":"post-56697","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-john-roberts","8":"tag-clarence-thomas","9":"tag-john-roberts","10":"tag-samuel-alito","11":"tag-supreme-court","12":"tag-supreme-court-justice"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@people\/116517517599362034","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56697","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=56697"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56697\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/56698"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=56697"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=56697"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=56697"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}