{"id":2704269,"date":"2026-11-13T12:46:01","date_gmt":"2026-11-13T17:46:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/utm_sourcerssutm_mediumrssutm_campaignas-dems-ready-to-take-power-alito-warns-of-threats-to-judicial-independence\/"},"modified":"2026-11-13T12:47:57","modified_gmt":"2026-11-13T17:47:57","slug":"utm_sourcerssutm_mediumrssutm_campaignas-dems-ready-to-take-power-alito-warns-of-threats-to-judicial-independence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/utm_sourcerssutm_mediumrssutm_campaignas-dems-ready-to-take-power-alito-warns-of-threats-to-judicial-independence\/","title":{"rendered":"After Midterms, Alito Warns Of Threats To Judicial &#8216;Independence&#8217;"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">18<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Futm_sourcerssutm_mediumrssutm_campaignas-dems-ready-to-take-power-alito-warns-of-threats-to-judicial-independence%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2704269&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito warned that a soon-to-be Democrat-controlled Congress might try to undermine the judiciary\u2019s independence &#8211; for example by defunding the Court or taking other actions &#8211; during a Federalist Society event where Mollie Hemingway interviewed him. He said preserving judicial independence is essential to keeping the Constitution intact.Alito also criticized lower-court overreach, noting judges can make mistakes and sometimes abuse power. The piece highlights Democrats\u2019 recent midterm wins,renewed calls to expand the Court,and prior ethics attacks on conservative justices.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"article-body body-md bdr-top-black pt-30\">\n<div class=\"row justify-content-center\">\n<div class=\"col-12\">\n<figure class=\"article-thumbnail mb-30 mb-sm-60\">\n<div class=\"article-thumbnail-caption d-flex align-items-center justify-content-md-end label-xs mt-15\">         <i class=\"mdi mdi-camera me-10\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>         <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Image Credit<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=wkKuOWspSNw\">CBS News\/YouTube<\/a>       <\/div>\n<\/figure><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"article-share text-center article-share-simple\">\n<h5 class=\"label-sm mb-10\">Share<\/h5>\n<ul class=\"article-share-list list-unstyled m-0 p-0\">\n<li class=\"article-share-facebook m-0\">       <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2026\/11\/13\/as-dems-ready-to-take-power-alito-warns-of-threats-to-judicial-independence\/\" target=\"_blank\">         <i class=\"mdi mdi-facebook\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>         <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Share Article on Facebook<\/span>       <\/a>     <\/li>\n<li class=\"article-share-twitter m-0\">       <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=As Dems Ready To Take Power, Alito Warns Of Threats To Judicial \u2018Independence\u2019&#038;url=https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2026\/11\/13\/as-dems-ready-to-take-power-alito-warns-of-threats-to-judicial-independence\/\" target=\"_blank\">         <i class=\"mdi mdi-twitter\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>         <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Share Article on Twitter<\/span>       <\/a>     <\/li>\n<li class=\"article-share-truth-social m-0\">       <a href=\"https:\/\/truthsocial.com\/share?title=As Dems Ready To Take Power, Alito Warns Of Threats To Judicial \u2018Independence\u2019&#038;url=https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2026\/11\/13\/as-dems-ready-to-take-power-alito-warns-of-threats-to-judicial-independence\/\" target=\"_blank\">         <svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" fill=\"currentColor\" style=\"width:36px;height:auto;\" viewbox=\"0 0 92 93\"><path d=\"M69.444 55.716H56.772v10.37h12.672zM64.487 37.795V27.32H38.666v38.664h13.18v-28.19zM21.05 27.321h12.653v10.471H21.051z\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/><\/svg>         <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Share Article on Truth Social<\/span>       <\/a>     <\/li>\n<li class=\"article-share-link m-0\">       <button data-clipboard-text=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2026\/11\/13\/as-dems-ready-to-take-power-alito-warns-of-threats-to-judicial-independence\/\" data-tooltip-content=\"Copied!\" class=\"clip tooltip\">         <i class=\"mdi mdi-link-variant\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>         <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Copy Article Link<\/span>       <\/button>     <\/li>\n<li class=\"article-share-email m-0\">       <a href=\"mailto:?subject=As Dems Ready To Take Power, Alito Warns Of Threats To Judicial \u2018Independence\u2019&#038;body=%20https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2026\/11\/13\/as-dems-ready-to-take-power-alito-warns-of-threats-to-judicial-independence\/\" target=\"_blank\">         <i class=\"mdi mdi-email\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>         <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Share Article via Email<\/span>       <\/a>     <\/li>\n<li class=\"article-share-email m-0\"><span class=\"printfriendly pf-button  pf-alignleft\">                     <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/thefederalist.com\/#\" rel=\"nofollow\" onclick=\"window.print(); pfTrackEvent(&#039;As Dems Ready To Take Power, Alito Warns Of Threats To Judicial \u2018Independence\u2019&#039;); return false;\" title=\"Printer Friendly, PDF &#038; Email\">                     <span id=\"printfriendly-text2\" class=\"pf-button-text\"><i class=\"mdi mdi-printer\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i><\/span>                     <\/a>                 <\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul><\/div>\n<div class=\"pf-content\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito is sounding the alarm about potential efforts by a soon-to-be Democrat-run Congress to undermine the judiciary\u2019s longstanding \u201cindependence.\u201d <\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The warning came during Alito\u2019s appearance at The Federalist Society\u2019s annual Antonin Scalia Memorial Dinner on Thursday. The senior justice was interviewed by Federalist Editor-in-Chief Mollie Hemingway, who published a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.barnesandnoble.com\/w\/alito-mollie-hemingway\/1147952913\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">bestselling biography<\/a> about him earlier this year. <\/p>\n<div id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-893996631\" class=\"d-flex justify-content-center fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-2 fdrlst__b89e9-entity-placement\">\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-1463670073398-0\" class=\"mb-30\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cCongress can turn off the lights at the Supreme Court and stop everything from happening if they want to defund their activities. And there are many, many, many other things that they can do, or at least try to do,\u201d Alito <a href=\"https:\/\/thehill.com\/regulation\/court-battles\/6217960-alito-warns-congress-defunding\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">told<\/a> Hemingway. <\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Bush 43 appointee further underscored the importance of \u201cpreserv[ing] the independence of the judiciary.\u201d \u201cIf that is eliminated,\u201d he said, \u201cthen the Constitution as adopted in 1789 will no longer be the same.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\"> <span class=\"C9ne4edsYZzDQXSmxUNmtqEAHr3oyHG8qF8jKG4OTv1h5wSkXMBvcU92NoOWRhJj70lxnBMRF3AVs6twi\"><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Had the pleasure of interviewing Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito about America250 and his jurisprudence tonight at the Federalist Society\u2019s Scalia dinner. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/5Fjr8AfBL2\">pic.twitter.com\/5Fjr8AfBL2<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Mollie (@MZHemingway) <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/MZHemingway\/status\/2121101050191159563?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">November 13, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.x.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/span> <\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">While not specifically mentioned, the justice\u2019s comments appear to be in reference to last week\u2019s Democrat midterm victories, and the party\u2019s ongoing <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2026\/11\/06\/democrats-war-against-the-supreme-court-is-about-to-get-even-worse\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">threats<\/a> against the high court and its conservative majority.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>[READ:[READ:<a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2026\/11\/06\/democrats-war-against-the-supreme-court-is-about-to-get-even-worse\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Democrats\u2019 War Against The Supreme Court Is About To Get Even Worse<\/a>]<\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Throughout the past several years, Democrats, with help from leftist-funded propaganda firms like <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2026\/10\/29\/propublica-spends-millions-from-left-wing-groups-writing-hit-pieces-on-democrats-favorite-targets\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">ProPublica<\/a>, have launched a series of <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2025\/01\/07\/democrats-ethics-smears-against-thomas-and-alito-are-so-embarrassing-they-buried-their-own-report\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">phony \u201cethics\u201d smears<\/a> against Alito, Clarence Thomas, and the other conservative justices. In doing so, the party has sought to dishonestly paint the court (and its decisions) as corrupt and lay the groundwork for its ultimate aim: <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/court-packing\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">court-packing<\/a>. <\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Numerous Democrats \u2014 including incoming congressional leaders and potential 2028 presidential candidates \u2014 have recently <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2026\/11\/06\/democrats-war-against-the-supreme-court-is-about-to-get-even-worse\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">ramped<\/a> up calls for increasing the high court\u2019s number of justices. Despite claims to the contrary, the goal of this scheme is to stack the court with left-wing activists who will rule based on what\u2019s favorable for Democrats instead of what law calls for.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>[RELATED:[RELATED:<a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2026\/10\/22\/heres-where-every-major-democrat-senate-candidate-stands-on-packing-scotus\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Here\u2019s Where Every Major Democrat Senate Candidate Stands On Packing SCOTUS<\/a>]<\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Among the other issues addressed by Alito during Thursday\u2019s discussion was that of judicial power. While agreeing with the notion that the judiciary is the \u201cleast dangerous\u201d branch and \u201cvulnerable\u201d to the other branches, the justice cautioned that judges can also abuse their authority. <\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Lower court judges \u201care dedicated and they are skillful, but they\u2019re not perfect and they make mistakes,\u201d Alito said. \u201cAnd in some instances, I think they have gone far astray in abuse of their powers.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The comments are seemingly in reference to lower courts\u2019 overreaching rulings against the Trump administration. <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2026\/06\/26\/thomas-alito-chide-rogue-judges-for-ignoring-scotus-and-the-law\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Alito<\/a> and several of <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2025\/08\/22\/justice-gorsuch-gives-rogue-lower-courts-the-smackdown-they-deserve\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">his colleagues<\/a> have previously chastised some of these judges for such antics in the high court\u2019s recent decisions. <\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\">\n<div class=\"article-author-description fst-italic\">      Shawn Fleetwood is a staff writer for The Federalist and a graduate of the University of Mary Washington. He is a co-recipient of the 2025 Dao Prize for Excellence in Investigative Journalism. His work has been featured in numerous outlets, including RealClearPolitics and RealClearHealth. Follow him on Twitter @ShawnFleetwood<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"article-author mt-30 mt-sm-60 pt-30 bdr-top-bold-black\">\n<div class=\"row g-0 align-items-center\">\n<div class=\"col-12 col-md-6\">\n<div class=\"article-author-profile d-flex align-items-center justify-content-center justify-content-md-start\">\n<div class=\"article-author-details\">\n<div class=\"label-md\">Shawn Fleetwood<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-author-twitter label-sm d-flex align-items-center mt-10\">             <i class=\"mdi mdi-twitter me-5\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>             <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Visit on Twitter<\/span>            <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ShawnFleetwood\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"text-decoration-none\">@ShawnFleetwood<\/a>           <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"col-12 col-md-6 d-flex justify-content-center justify-content-md-end mt-15 mt-md-0\">        <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/author\/shawnfleetwood\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">More Articles<\/a>     <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"article-tags no-print bdr-top-black mt-30 mt-sm-60 pt-15 pt-md-45\">\n<ul class=\"list-unstyled d-flex flex-wrap align-items-center mb-0 mx-n10 p-0\">\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/2026-midterms\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">2026 midterms<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/court-packing\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">court packing<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/democrats\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Democrats<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/ethics-charges\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">ethics charges<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/funding\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Funding<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/independence\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">independence<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/judiciary\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">judiciary<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/mollie-hemingway\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Mollie Hemingway<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/samuel-alito\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Samuel Alito<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/scotus\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">SCOTUS<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/supreme-court\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Supreme Court<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito warned that a soon-to-be Democratic-controlled Congress could try to undermine the judiciary\u2019s independence, including by defunding the Supreme Court and pursuing other measures. Speaking at the Federalist Society\u2019s Antonin Scalia Memorial Dinner and interviewed by Mollie Hemingway, he stressed the importance of preserving judicial independence, arguing that losing it would alter the Constitution as it was adopted in 1789. Although not explicitly named, his remarks seemed directed at the Democrats\u2019 midterm victories and their ongoing threats to the Court and its conservative majority. The piece notes that Democrats and allied groups have launched ethics-focused attacks on Alito, Clarence Thomas, and other conservatives to cast the Court as corrupt and to set the stage for court-packing. Some Democrats have called for increasing the Court\u2019s size, a move critics say would place more liberal justices on the bench. Alito also discussed judicial power, acknowledging the judiciary as the \u201cleast dangerous\u201d branch yet capable of overreach; he criticized some lower-court judges for overstepping or abusing their authority, particularly in rulings against the Trump administration. The article is by Shawn Fleetwood for The Federalist<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":539,"featured_media":2704270,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/Sam-Alito.png","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[4430,87782,7408,87783,47079],"class_list":["post-2704269","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-alito","tag-judicialindependence","tag-midterms","tag-politicalpressure","tag-supremecourt"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/Sam-Alito.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2704269","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/539"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2704269"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2704269\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2704273,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2704269\/revisions\/2704273"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2704270"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2704269"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2704269"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2704269"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}