Democrats' gains put spotlight on aging Supreme Court justices

This transcript was produced with AI technology that converts speech to text. The text is not always reviewed or edited by Reuters journalists and some errors may occur.

The Democrats' success in the midterm elections has implications for the Supreme Court. It has renewed pressure on Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito to potentially reconsider their place on the court and even step down. Keep in mind that these justices are two of the most conservative justices on the court, yes, but they also are the two oldest justices. Justice Thomas is 78, Justice Alito is 76, and so that's sparking some concern among conservative commentators, some Republican politicians about their longevity, about their health. Neither Justice Alito or Justice Thomas has given any public indication that they want to step down. I mean, even Justice Alito has affirmed that he will not step down even if Democrats recaptured the Senate, which they did. If one of them did step down, they would probably have to do so very quickly. There's a very short timeline between now and when the Democrats take control of the Senate in early January. So even if one of them did step down immediately, it would be still a difficult process. There would be very little room for error for Republicans in order to seat one of President Trump's new nominees if that were to happen. They're looking at this blue wave, and they're seeing that it could be hard for Republicans to recapture a majority, in the Senate before around 2033. The Senate has the power to confirm a president's judges and justices and I think it would be difficult for President Trump, depending on the nominees of course, but it would be difficult for him to get those votes to get any kind of majority together to confirm a justice. Even though it would be difficult for Republicans to, to confirm a new justice in this tight timeframe, they have some precedent in confirming someone very quickly. When President Trump nominated Amy Coney Barrett to join the court after Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg died in 2020, the Republican Senate confirmed her within the timeframe of a month. So it can be done very quickly, it's just not clear whether they'd be able to do that this time. [This transcript was produced with AI technology that converts speech to text. The text is not reviewed or edited by Reuters journalists and some errors may occur.]