Will Trump have appointed a majority of the Supreme Court by year’s end?

Early in his Supreme Court tenure, Justice Clarence Thomaswho joined the court in 1991reportedly said he wanted to stay on until 2034. The reason, according to a 1993 New York Times report citing one of his clerks: “The liberals made my life miserable for 43 years, and I’m going to make their lives miserable for 43 years.”

Fast-forward to this week, when Thomas, 77, said at a public appearance in Texas, “I don’t count the number of years I’m on the court.”

He made that remark Wednesday during the Q&A session that followed a speech he gave at the state’s university at Austin, tied to the upcoming 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.

During his speech, an excerpt of which The Wall Street Journal’s opinion page headlined“Justice Thomas: Progressives vs. the Declaration,” the George H.W. Bush appointee bemoaned what he saw as a modern betrayal of founding-era ideals. He also gave a shoutout to attendees, including Harlan Crowwhose undisclosed gifts to the justice raised an ethical scandal for him and the court.

The justice’s rosier view of the past extended to his own service on the court as well. During the Q&A portion, in response to a question about the late Justice Antonin ScaliaThomas said he “loved working with him. I loved working with that court. That court that was together 11 years was my favorite. It was a wonderful time.” Thomas made a similar comment in public remarks last yearsaying he “came of age with that court.”

None of these comments alone would seem to make the justice any more likely to retire this year. And another potential milestone to note is that he’d become the longest-serving justice if he stays on through spring 2028.

But his age, combined with the political circumstances in an uncertain midterm election year, raise the question of whether he and/or Justice Samuel Alito, 76, will step down to give Donald Trump a chance to appoint his fourth and/or fifth Supreme Court justices while Republicans maintain Senate control.

Trump has already appointed a third of the current court: Justices Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett.

Barrett’s confirmation is a cautionary tale for any justice who cares about which president names their successor. Trump was able to name his third justice because Ruth Bader Ginsburg, a Clinton appointee, died at 87 toward the end of his first term in 2020. He was also able to appoint Barrett because the GOP-controlled Senate was willing to push her through, despite previously holding open a seat left vacant by Scalia’s 2016 death on the grounds that it was inappropriate to fill it in an election year. After Trump won the 2016 election, Gorsuch took that seat in 2017.

Thomas and Alito are aware of all this. But it remains to be seen whether they want to gamble on the future or give the GOP sure-thing replacements while they’re in control.

Jordan Rubin is the Deadline: Legal Blog writer. He was a prosecutor for the New York County District Attorney’s Office in Manhattan and is the author of “Bizarro,” a book about the secret war on synthetic drugs. Before he joined MS NOW, he was a legal reporter for Bloomberg Law.