Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito was hospitalized over a health scare that was kept under wraps for weeks.
Now the bizarre hospitalization is fueling growing speculation that the longtime justice may be stripped from the bench of the nation’s highest court.
As first reported by Fox News, Alito was taken to a Philadelphia hospital on March 20 after falling ill during a Federalist Society dinner held in his honor.
Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito was taken to a hospital after becoming ill last month at a Federalist Society dinner in Philadelphia, according to people with knowledge of the March 20 incident. https://t.co/mUa672ysFK pic.twitter.com/cT0BMo95Mk
— CNN (@CNN) April 3, 2026
However, the incident was not publicly disclosed at the time.
Additionally, CNN reported that Alito, 76, was evaluated and given fluids for dehydration before being released the same evening, according to a statement Supreme Court spokeswoman Patricia McCabe obtained by the outlet.
“Out of an abundance of caution, he agreed with his security detail’s recommendation to see a physician before the three-hour drive home,” McCabe told CNN.
“Justice Alito was thoroughly checked by his own physician, and he returned to work the following Monday for oral argument.”
Alito was not admitted to the hospital, Fox News reported, and he eventually returned to his Virginia home that night with his security detail.
Sources who spoke with Fox News said Alito had reported feeling lightheaded at the event and that he did not faint.
Two attendees told the outlet there was no alarming episode and that the justice has experienced no health concerns since.
However, the hidden health scare has fueled ongoing speculation that Alito could be close to retirement.
Close associates have told CNN Alito has weighed stepping down, though there is no indication a decision is near.
Some legal experts are convinced Alito is preparing to step down because of the unusual timing of his upcoming book.
Alito has a memoir titled “So Ordered: An Originalist’s View of the Constitution, the Court, and Our Country” scheduled for release October 6, 2026—the day after the Supreme Court’s new term begins.
“That is usually a very good milestone on which to retire,” Melissa Murray, a law professor at New York University, said of Alito’s recent 20-year anniversary on the high court.
Steve Vladeck, a law professor at Georgetown University, called the October book release date “a pretty big tell since one can’t exactly go on a book tour during the first argument session of the term.”
Alito reached the 20-year mark on the Supreme Court at the end of January.
He was nominated by former President George W. Bush and joined the court in January 2006.