Topline
Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito’s son works at the Treasury Department as an attorney, NOTUS reported Thursday, raising new ethical concerns as the justice is asked to weigh in on the Trump administration’s policies—though Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent claimed Thursday the Treasury Department is doing everything above board.
Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito faces new ethical scrutiny amid reports his son is working in Trump’s Treasury Department.
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Key Facts
Samuel Alito’s son Philip Alito is an attorney at the Treasury Department’s Office of General Counsel, NOTUS reports, and has worked there since the early days of the second Trump administration.
His job involves advising Bessent on policy and legal matters, NOTUS reported, with a spokesperson for the Treasury Department confirming to NOTUS that Philip Alito’s “portfolio covers a broad range of topics.”
The Treasury Department said Philip Alito was in compliance with ethics rules and told NOTUS, “As a matter of both professional and personal judgment, Phil does not counsel on any matters reasonably expected before the Supreme Court.”
Bessent was asked about Philip Alito’s employment during a press conference Thursday, and while he did not comment substantially on the justice’s son’s work, Bessent said the Treasury Department “follow[s] all legal and ethical guidelines” and he assumes Justice Alito does the same.
The news of the younger Alito’s work comes as the Supreme Court has increasingly been asked to weigh in on major disputes based on Trump administration policy, which at times has involved the Treasury Department.
Most notably, the Supreme Court struck down President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariff policy in February—but Supreme Court spokesperson Patricia McCabe claimed to NOTUS that Alito’s son was not involved in that policy, so the justice did not recuse himself.
What To Watch For
The Supreme Court could be asked to take up the legality of Trump’s recent settlement with the IRS—housed in the Treasury Department—which controversially established a $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization fund” and gave Trump and his eldest sons immunity from any IRS audits of their existing tax returns. Multiple lawsuits against that settlement and the $1.8 billion fund are now pending in court, and could eventually be sent to the Supreme Court to decide. The Treasury Department has not yet responded to a request for comment on whether Philip Alito had any involvement in that settlement.
Key Background
The news of Philip Alito’s employment is the latest in a string of ethics controversies Samuel Alito has faced in recent years, as the conservative-leaning justice has frequently garnered scrutiny for potential conflicts of interest. Alito drew widespread criticism in 2024 after The New York Times reported he and his wife flew a flag associated with the “Stop the Steal” movement outside their home, with another controversial flag associated with Trump supporters also flying outside his New Jersey beach house. He’s also come under fire for reports he took a luxury fishing trip with billionaire Paul Singer, whose hedge fund has had business before the court, without disclosing it, and for being interviewed in The Wall Street Journal by David Rivkin, a lawyer who appears before the court, among multiple other controversies. Alito has strongly denied all accusations of ethical impropriety and refused to recuse himself over his flag-flying from cases related to the 2020 election, claiming in a letter to Congress that the flags were his wife’s idea and he wasn’t aware of their political connotations. He has also opposed congressional Democrats’ efforts to impose a more binding code of ethics on Supreme Court justices—who don’t have to follow the same stringent ethics requirements as lower court judges—falsely claiming in 2023 that Congress doesn’t have the “authority” to regulate the high court.
Further Reading
Samuel Alito’s Son Has Been Quietly Working for Trump’s Treasury Department (NOTUS)