Shannon Bream details her sit-down interview with Justice Samuel Alito

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Guy Benson: Shannon Bream, chief legal correspondent at Fox News, anchor of Fox News Sunday–check your local listings–and author of many bestselling books. I should say, host of the hit podcast Livin’ the Bream, where she talks about her bestselling books and many other subjects. Shannon, always great to have you here. Welcome back.

Shannon Bream: Thank you so much. Happy Friday!

Guy Benson: We had Carrie Severino from JCN on earlier in the week, just previewing a little bit of the new SCOTUS term that kicked off this week. She gave us a few of her thoughts. What’s your lay of the land as you look ahead to this SCOTUS term?

Shannon Bream: Well, I would defer to Carrie because she is brilliant, and having clerked at the Court, she has such good insight into what they’re doing and what’s on the docket.

We’re obviously looking at the headline-making cases, including the gun case involving the Second Amendment. There are a couple of really critical immigration policies from the Trump administration that will come under scrutiny. There’s also a lot of religious liberty-related stuff.

One of the cases I’m tracking involves Daniel Grand, a man from Ohio whom I interviewed. He’s Jewish and wanted to hold a men’s prayer meeting, but the city told him he had to get a permit. I think a lot of Americans would hear that and think, “I’m going to have to get a permit for my neighborhood prayer meeting or Bible study?” That doesn’t sound very American. So we’ll see what the justices think about that and some other critical cases.

Guy Benson: You recently had an opportunity to sit down with one of the most well-known justices on the Court, Samuel Alito, and had a wide-ranging conversation with him. A few things that came up made news. Tell us about that interview. What stuck out to you?

Shannon Bream: Well, he’s got this new book, which outlines his theory and philosophy of the law: originalism. But I was also happy that a number of doors were opened by what was included in the book, because that’s kind of the one chance we get to sit down with the justices and do these interviews.

A lot of the themes in his book led me to other questions. I thought the book might include a little bit more about the Dobbs decision he authored, which overturned Roe v. Wade, and the fact that the leak put him and his colleagues in so much danger.

I thought, I’m just going to ask him straight up if he thinks he knows who the leaker is. He really does believe he knows who it is, but obviously, you have to be very circumspect. You have to go where the evidence can publicly take you.

But he’s not the only person at the Court who’s told me they believe they know who the person is. So whether that person eventually wants to take a victory lap and go public, there are a number of people at the Court who think they know.

Guy Benson: He was also asked by you, and I know this has come up a few times, about the specter of retirement. You’ve got President Trump in office right now and, at least for the next couple of months, a Republican Senate. So people were looking at their watches, thinking, “Hey, if anyone wants to step aside and make an announcement here…” He’s in his mid-70s, and he said that won’t be the case this year.

Who knows what the Senate will look like next year and beyond? That’s a big factor in the upcoming elections. But what was your read on his conversation about the retirement question?

Shannon Bream: Well, since the spring, he’s been adamant with me that he’s at least staying through this term. He’d hired his clerks, he’d committed to it, and he wasn’t going anywhere. So I’ve talked with him a number of times about this.

He finds it a little bit amusing. I think the justices find it a little insulting or frustrating that they’re treated as disposable, as if you could just plug somebody else in. I don’t know that you could get a Justice Alito easily confirmed in this Senate, even with the current makeup. And we’ll see what it looks like after the midterms.

He said it’s not fun to feel like there are vultures circling around you and kind of prodding at your mortality.

I asked him, “What’s your calculation for sticking around?” He said, “I feel good. I’m engaged. I get up every day and love to have this job. I love to feel good enough mentally and physically to do it.”

He really doesn’t have a plan for an off-ramp, but he is definitely committed. He’s said numerous times that he’ll stay through at least June of this term. I don’t think it’s outside the realm of possibility that he’ll look at what the Senate makeup is after the midterms.

Guy Benson: Sure. If the Democrats win the Senate–and I think there’s a jump-ball chance that they do–they could decide they’re not going to entertain any judicial nominees, which I think is possible. That would, of course, play into a justice’s decision on this front.

You’ve also got the history of Ruth Bader Ginsburg resisting pressure from her side to retire in a timely way, from their perspective. Then she passed away close to an election, with President Trump in office and a Republican Senate. That was sort of a nightmare for the left, which is why they explicitly pressured Justice Breyer to retire and successfully did so.

It’s an interesting timeline and a look at some of the calculations that go into this.

Shannon, as we look ahead to Sunday’s Fox News Sunday, you’re the host and anchor. What do you have on deck? What do you have on tap for the audience?

Shannon Bream: We’re going to talk with DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin about immigration. A couple of the key cases I mentioned are at the Supreme Court, including whether the administration can continue deporting people to third-party countries where they have no connection. That’s one of the big cases.

We’ll also discuss another ICE-involved shooting out of New York. What are we learning? What are the details? Are there changes to policy? Was there body-camera footage? There’s a lot to discuss with him about that.

We’ve also got the two gubernatorial candidates from Iowa, one of those states we’re watching really closely because there’s a tough Senate race there, too. What does it tell us more broadly about the country?

It’s interesting to me how these two candidates are running. The Democrat sounds a lot like a Republican at times, and the Republican sounds a lot like a Democrat. So how are they playing this game in the middle of America?

We also have Brit Hume with us. I sat down with him to talk about the 30th birthday of Fox News, and he’s got some great stories and memories.

Guy Benson: Well, that’s must-see TV. Fox News Sunday, anchored by Shannon Bream. Check your local listings, and it replays later in the day on the Fox News Channel.

Shannon, I always appreciate our time together. Have a great show.

Shannon Bream: Come back soon. Thanks, Guy!