The story NPR published - and then almost immediately retracted - at the end of June, which falsely claimed that Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito was retiring, was one of the more bizarre and scandalous moments in the "news" organization's tumultuous history.
ICYMI:
Oh boy. NPR reported that Justice Alito was retiring, then retracted it 10 minutes later, saying it was “published in error.” pic.twitter.com/ljqd9udn9a
— Bill Melugin (@BillMelugin_) June 30, 2026
As RedState reported at the time, NPR's longtime legal affairs correspondent and Supreme Court reporter, Nina Totenberg, wrote in an apology letter to Alito that "I rushed out of the courtroom after the opinion announcements, and when I realized that the usual rush of folks after a few minutes had not happened, I asked somebody was going on inside, to which the answer was, 'retirement announcements.' I didn't hear the 's' on 'announcements,' and I assumed something no reporter should ever do, that you were retiring."
She went on to call it "the worst professional mistake of my more than 50 years in journalism," and then wrote that she was "so, so sorry." It remains, to this day, baffling how such a veteran reporter could make what she herself called a "rookie mistake."
SEE ALSO: What in the World? NPR's Anti-Alito Wishcasting Ends With an Awkward Retraction
Fast forward to a little over a month later, and the conservative justice, who has been serving since January 2006, has provided a bit of an update of sorts on the retirement question, informing the Wall Street Journal in an interview that “Obviously I’m here for another term":
Reports of his end have been greatly exaggerated: “Justice Samuel Alito, who wrote the Supreme Court’s opinion reversing Roe v. Wade, is retiring, the court announced Tuesday.” National Public Radio’s Nina Totenberg wrote those words as the court’s term ended on June 30, stuck them atop a canned story, and pulled the editorial trigger. Her enormous scoop turned out to be empty, and NPR retracted it in minutes. Ms. Totenberg, 82, said she had been confused by an announcement from Chief Justice John Roberts about staff retirements.
“Obviously I’m here for another term,” Justice Alito, 76, says a month later, during a rare summertime visit to his chambers.
Bloomberg: Conservative Supreme Court Justice Samual Alito tells the Wall Street Journal he is staying on the court for “another term” and cast doubt on the idea that he might retire late this year to ensure President Trump can appoint a successorhttps://t.co/6e0r4D8Jzq
— Politics & Poll Tracker 📡 (@PollTracker2024) August 7, 2026
The jurisprudential master speaks. I’m glad Justice Alito is not retiring — you couldn’t do better with a replacement! pic.twitter.com/53MxFQgpev
— Ron DeSantis (@RonDeSantis) August 7, 2026
The next Supreme Court term starts October 5th and goes through June 30, 2027.