On June 30, 2026, NPR published a story falsely reporting that Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito had retired, citing a supposed Supreme Court statement [1, 2, 3]. The news outlet quickly retracted the report, removed it from their website, issued on-air corrections, and apologized for the erroneous coverage [1, 3, 4, 5].
The Supreme Court and its spokesperson Patricia McCabe confirmed no retirement announcement had been made and called NPR's story inaccurate. McCabe said, "NPR's report about Justice Alito's retirement and about a court statement is inaccurate; the court has not issued any such statement" [1].
Nina Totenberg, NPR's veteran Supreme Court correspondent with more than 50 years of journalism experience, publicly admitted on "All Things Considered" that she misheard information related to retirements and mistakenly assumed Alito was stepping down. She apologized, saying, "Dear Justice Alito, there are no words to adequately apologize for today's error in reporting your retirement. It was entirely my fault… It was the worst professional mistake of my more than 50 years in journalism. I could go on, but I don't know what else to say, except that I am so, so sorry" [4, 5].
NPR Editor Thomas Evans stated, "Due to a misunderstanding, NPR’s Supreme Court and Legal Affairs Correspondent Nina Totenberg incorrectly reported that Justice Samuel Alito had retired. Neither Justice Alito nor the Supreme Court Public Information Office has announced his retirement" [4].
Samuel Alito, born in 1950, was 76 years old at the time and had not announced any plans to retire [2, 3]. There have been ongoing rumors and speculation from conservative circles and media about a possible retirement, but no official confirmation had been made [1, 3]. If Alito did retire, former President Donald Trump could nominate a fourth Supreme Court justice during his term, which would be historically notable [1].
