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By Jordan King
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Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito is considering retirement amid pushback he has received in recent months, according to a new report.
Alito has faced criticism for his household flying an upside-down U.S. flag in January 2021, a symbol associated with the "Stop the Steal" campaign aimed at overturning President Joe Biden's 2020 election win. He also saw a notable loss in a ruling on how social media sites should moderate content.
The 74-year-old "has reflected in private about retirement," a new CNN report has stated, citing sources "inside and outside the court with knowledge of the deliberations."
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Newsweek has contacted Alito for comment outside of typical working hours.
The Supreme Court's social media ruling came in June.
The Court voted 6-3 to overturn the ruling of a federal appeals court in Louisiana, which concluded that interactions between social media companies and the federal government under President Joe Biden, including requests to remove content, constituted a likely violation of the First Amendment and must be curtailed.
AmyConey Barrett and Ketanji Brown Jackson did not vote with the other traditionally conservative justices, leaving Alito on the losing side of a 6-3 ruling led by Justice Elena Kagan.
Alito also saw himself on the losing side in the Court's decision allowing Texas councilwoman Sylvia Gonzalez to sue over what she said was a politically motivated arrest, after she had criticized her local mayor.
There were claims at the time that Alito had seen the decision taken from him, based on the fact that Alito's concurring opinion on Gonzalez v. Trevino was far longer than the per curiam decision of the majority.
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However, the one controversy that has dogged Alito most this year is the flag issue. He insisted that the upside-down flag had been flown by his wife, in response to a feud with neighbors, but several have questioned his version of events.
Alito has faced numerous calls to recuse himself from cases involving the 2020 election and January 6 riots. He has pushed back against these calls, saying any "reasonable person who is not motivated by political or ideological considerations or a desire to affect the outcome of Supreme Court cases would conclude that the events recounted above do not meet the applicable standard for recusal."
These issues, along with controversies around gifts Alito has allegedly accepted, have all led to calls for impeachment on social media.
Supreme Court Justices generally serve for life, unless they decide to retire. In 2018, 81-year-old Justice Anthony Kennedy stepped down after writing a letter to then-President Donald Trump about wanting to spend more time with his family.
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