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NPR erroneously reports Samuel Alito is retiring, minutes after Supreme Court’s birthright citizenship ruling
WASHINGTON — NPR retracted a story Tuesday announcing the retirement of Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito.
The formerly publicly funded outlet posted the story by longtime legal affairs correspondent Nina Totenberg moments after the Supreme Court finished its 2025-26 term, and cited a statement from the press office.
However, no such announcement was made, nor did Alito make any comment from the bench about his future.
“NPR’s reporting regarding Justice Alito is inaccurate. And their reporting that there was any kind of court statement is inaccurate,” court spokesperson Patricia McCabe told Politico in a statement.
NPR editor in chief Tommy Evans later admitted that the inaccurate report was published “[d]ue to a misunderstanding.”
“As soon as the error was realized, the story was retracted and removed from NPR’s website and an on-air correction was broadcast,” Evans added, noting that Totenberg had “reached out to Justice Alito to apologize.”
Podcast host Katie Miller, the wife of White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller, erupted in an X post: “This is why you can’t trust the Legacy Media. Published a totally fake story.”
Totenberg, 82, has worked at NPR since 1975 and has repeatedly won praise for her reporting on the inner workings of the Supreme Court. She established a decades-long friendship with the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who officiated at Totenberg’s second wedding in 2000.
Following Ginsburg’s death in 2020, Totenberg and NPR were criticized — including by the outlet’s then-public editor, Kelly McBride — for not being more forthcoming about her friendship with Ginsburg earlier.
Alito, 76, joined the high court in 2006 as an appointee of President George W. Bush, filling the vacancy caused by the retirement of Justice Sandra Day O’Connor.
President Trump nominated three justices who were confirmed to the Supreme Court during his first term — Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett.
If Alito retired, the 47th president would get a fourth pick, the most of any president since Dwight D. Eisenhower.
Last year, Congress yanked more than $1 billion from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which partially funds NPR. Trump had previously issued an executive order to revoke its taxpayer funding.
That dealt a blow to local stations that pay NPR for programming, even though the outlet admitted direct federal grants accounted for less than 1% of its budget.
NPR relies on fees from those member stations, many of which are under severe financial strain since the federal funding was pulled, though the freeze will only remain in effect for a two-year period.
https://nypost.com/2026/06/30/us-news/npr-erroneously-reports-samuel-alito-is-retiring/
NPR Retracts Report Claiming Justice Alito Is Retiring
The story had said that the longtime justice was departing the nation’s top court.
NPR on June 30 retracted a report that said Justice Samuel Alito was stepping down.
NPR reporter Nina Totenberg reported that the Supreme Court announced on Tuesday that Alito, 76, “is retiring.”
The 29-paragraph story outlined Alito’s history on the bench, primarily focusing on his views on matters such as abortion and the death penalty. Alito authored the majority opinion in the 2022 decision that struck down Roe v. Wade, sending the matter of abortion back to the states.
Shortly after publication, NPR took the article down.
“Earlier today, we erroneously published a story saying that Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito was retiring,” NPR said in an editor’s note. “Neither Alito nor the court’s public information office has announced his retirement, and we have retracted the story.”
Tommy Evans, NPR’s editor-in-chief, said that what transpired stemmed from “a misunderstanding.”
“As soon as the error was realized, the story was retracted and removed from NPR’s website and an on-air correction was broadcast,” Evans said. “We regret the error and any confusion this may have caused.”
Evans said that Totenberg, 82, who has reported on the Supreme Court for decades and authored a book about her friendship with the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg, would be addressing what happened during an afternoon appearance on NPR, and that Totenberg reached out to Alito to apologize.
The Supreme Court and Alito did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
If a vacancy arose in the coming months, President Donald Trump would be able to name a replacement.
Three justices nominated by Trump in his first term—Amy Coney Barrett, Neil Gorsuch, and Brett Kavanaugh—now serve on the court.
President Joe Biden, a Democrat whose single term happened between Trump’s first and second terms, was able to pick one justice, Ketanji Brown Jackson.
Judicial nominees require confirmation from the Senate, which is currently controlled 53–47 by Republicans. Only a majority vote is required.
Alito has served on the court since Jan. 31, 2006. He was nominated by President George W. Bush, a Republican.
Alito is the second-oldest member on the court. The oldest is Justice Clarence Thomas, who was selected by Republican President George H.W. Bush, and the third-oldest is Justice Sonia Sotomayor, who was picked by Democratic President Barack Obama.
https://www.theepochtimes.com/us/npr-retracts-report-claiming-justice-alito-is-retiring-6055390
https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/116836206388592062