看来，唐纳德·特朗普总统将不得不接受这样一个结果：他只任命了三位大法官，而他却因这三位大法官并非在每一个案件中都站在他一边而对他们大发雷霆。
It’s looking more and more like President Donald Trump will be stuck with only having appointed the three Supreme Court justices at whom he has lashed out for not siding with him in every single case.
尽管民主党本周赢得了参议院控制权，但据报道，大法官塞缪尔·阿利托已表示，他无意立即退休，以便让特朗普有机会在跛脚鸭会期让即将卸任的共和党控制的参议院确认他的继任者。新的民主党多数党将于1月正式就位。
Despite Democrats winning Senate control this week, Justice Samuel Alito has reportedly discussed his intention not to retire immediately and give Trump a chance to have the outgoing GOP-controlled Senate confirm his successor in the lame-duck period. The new Democratic majority will be fully seated in January.
《纽约时报》周三援引两名不愿透露姓名的消息人士报道称，阿利托“告诉亲近他的人，他不打算立即从最高法院退休，尽管民主党在周二的参议院竞选中取得了压倒性胜利。”彭博社在大选前曾报道，阿利托在一次采访中表示，即使民主党赢得参议院，他也不会辞职。彭博社周三也援引一名不愿透露姓名的消息人士确认了《纽约时报》的报道。哥伦比亚广播公司（CBS News）同样报道称，阿利托和另一位资历最深的大法官克拉伦斯·托马斯都没有退休计划。
The New York Times reported Wednesday, citing two unnamed sources, that Alito “told people close to him that he does not intend to retire immediately from the Supreme Court, despite Democrats’ commanding win in Senate contests on Tuesday.”Bloomberg News had reported ahead of the election that Alito said in an interview that he would not step down even if Democrats won the Senate. Bloomberg also confirmed the Times report Wednesday, citing an unnamed source. CBS News likewise reports that neither Alito nor the other senior-most justice, Clarence Thomas, are planning to retire.
MS NOW 尚未独立核实这些报道，但这些报道与两位大法官一直释放的信号一致。阿利托由乔治·W·布什总统任命，已任职二十年。托马斯由布什的父亲、老布什（乔治·H·W·布什）于1991年任命。
MS NOW has not independently verified those reports, which are consistent with the signals that both justices have been sending. Alito was appointed by President George W. Bush and has served for two decades. Thomas was appointed by Bush’s father, George H.W. Bush, in 1991.
两位大法官均已年届70岁末，按最高法院标准来看并不算太老。虽然托马斯年纪稍长、任职时间长得多，但今年外界对阿利托退休的猜测更为热烈。如果托马斯留任至2028年5月，他将成为史上任职时间最长的大法官。据《纽约时报》1993年的一篇报道，他在任职早期曾表示想留任到2034年，因为据一名法律助理回忆托马斯的原话：“自由派让我痛苦了43年，我要让他们也痛苦43年。”
Both justices are in their late 70s, which is not terribly old by Supreme Court standards. And though Thomas is slightly older and has been on the court much longer, the public speculation about Alito’s retirement has been more intense this year. If Thomas stays on the bench through May 2028, he will become the longest-serving justice ever. According to a 1993 Times report, he said early in his tenure that he wanted to stay on until 2034 because, according to a law clerk’s reported recollection of Thomas’ remarks, “The liberals made my life miserable for 43 years, and I’m going to make their lives miserable for 43 years.”
如果托马斯和阿利托想确保由共和党总统和参议院提名并确认他们的继任者，两人可能都需要至少留任那么久。到那时，他们都将年过80岁。
Both Thomas and Alito may need to stay on the court for at least that long if they want to ensure that a Republican president and Senate can confirm their replacements. They would be in their 80s by that point.
拜登总统任命其唯一的最高法院大法官凯坦吉·布朗·杰克逊，是在克林顿任命的大法官斯蒂芬·布雷耶于83岁时、在左翼压力下退休之后。左翼施压是为了避免重演让特朗普在首个任期内任命第三位大法官的情形：克林顿任命的大法官露丝·贝德·金斯伯格于2020年9月在87岁时去世。
President Joe Biden named his lone high court appointee, Ketanji Brown Jackson, after Justice Stephen Breyer, a Clinton appointee, retired at 83 amid pressure from the left to avoid the scenario that let Trump appoint his third justice in his first term: the death of Clinton-appointed Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg at 87 in September 2020.
就我们所知，托马斯和阿利托并未像金斯伯格那样饱受严重健康问题困扰。他们可能看着依然活跃的布雷耶，认为他退得太早了。尽管如此，他们是否会步金斯伯格后尘、同样被一位誓要推翻其司法遗产的总统和参议院所取代，恐怕在未来数年内仍将是一个悬而未决的问题。
As far as we know, Thomas and Alito are not battling serious health issues like Ginsburg did. They may look at Breyer, who is still out and about, and think he left early. Still, whether they will go the Ginsburg route and likewise be replaced by a president and Senate intent on undoing their legacies is likely to remain an open question for years to come.
与此同时，特朗普最喜爱的两位大法官似乎将在其余任期内继续留任。
In the meantime, it appears that Trump will have his two favorite justices on the bench for the rest of his presidency.