Justice Alito expresses concern over President Trump's criticism of the Supreme Court

Increased use of unilateral authority such as executive orders... Facing a quick and powerful counter lawsuit

In response to demands for reform such as 'increasing the number of Supreme Court justices', there is an "organized effort to influence the ruling"

(Washington = Yonhap News) Correspondent Hong Jeong-gyu = A conservative justice within the Supreme Court responded to U.S. President Donald Trump's repeated criticism of the Supreme Court and individual justices.

Justice Samuel Erlito appeared on Fox News on the 4th (local time) and said, "I am concerned about the increasing level of public rhetoric in general and the comments being made by people in important positions about the Supreme Court as a whole and individual justices."

Justice Alito's comments came as the Supreme Court responded to public criticism of its decision to block key policies of the Trump administration and the inclusion of justices appointed by President Trump in the majority opinion.

The three Supreme Court justices appointed by President Trump during his first term in office were Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett. In addition, six existing Supreme Court Chief Justices John Roberts, Allito, and Justice Clarence Thomas are classified as conservative.

However, even in a structure where 6 out of 9 members are conservative, the Supreme Court did not side with President Trump in major rulings, including the ruling that reciprocal tariffs were illegal in February of this year, recognition of birthright citizenship in June, and prohibition of restrictions on mail-in voting in September.

In particular, President Trump criticized the three Supreme Court justices he appointed, calling them “nothing more than empty shells of their original selves,” and said in a recent interview with Time magazine that he regretted appointing them, saying, “I gave them lifetime positions, but they often vote against me.”

“I get all that out of my mind (remarks directed at the Supreme Court and its justices), and I trust my colleagues will get all that out of their minds, too,” Justice Earlito said. “I am concerned about the long-term impact it will have on the standing of the Supreme Court.”

Justice Alito pointed out that as U.S. presidents, including Trump, try to bypass Congress, where the ruling and opposition parties are extremely divided, through interpretations of executive orders or laws and rules, lawsuits and emergency applications against them tend to increase.

“Presidents of both parties have become increasingly frustrated with their inability to persuade Congress to adopt their legislative agenda,” Justice Earlito said. “So they have tried to use their unilateral authority to do a lot of things by issuing executive orders, creating new rules, or reinterpreting existing laws and regulations.”

“Such efforts have been met with increasingly rapid and powerful countersuits,” he explained. “In 2025, there were more than 50 emergency applications in important civil cases, and a similar number of cases were heard on the merits in a similar period.”

Justice Alito responded to the host's question that 'Left-wing groups are calling for reforms such as increasing the number of Supreme Court justices and limiting the term and age of Supreme Court justices,' to which he responded, "I am concerned."

He criticized these demands as "an organized effort to intimidate the Supreme Court and its justices and influence them to judge cases differently from the way we have judged cases up to now."