Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court. On May 7th 2026 he became the second-longest-serving justice in history, at nearly 35 years on the bench. His "originalist" orientation has become central to the court's jurisprudence. In a speech in April 2026 he described progressivism as a power-mad international movement responsible not just for the ills of America but also for the excesses of Stalin, Hitler, Mussolini and Mao. He criticised conservatives who arrive in Washington claiming to care about "the original meaning of the constitution" but learn to temporise, "recast themselves as institutionalists, pragmatists, or thoughtful moderates"—a barb apparently aimed at his more institutionally minded colleagues. Alongside Justices Samuel Alito and Neil Gorsuch he forms a "lone wolf" trio of conservatives more often willing to ignore precedent than the trio of John Roberts, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett.
Things are more like they are today than they ever were before.