U.S. Congressman Mike Levin (D-CA) is responding to a NOTUS report that revealed that Philip Alito, son of conservative Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito, has been working as a lawyer inside President Trump’s Treasury Department since last year.
According to the report, a Treasury Department spokesperson confirmed that “Philip Alito is currently detailed from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia as a Counselor in the Office of the General Counsel,” and that “Phil does not counsel on any matters reasonably expected before the Supreme Court.”
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent confirmed Alito’s Treasury job at a press conference on Thursday, see below.
Reporter: There’s a report that Justice Alito’s son is working in your department. Can you confirm that that’s the case? Do you believe that that means that he should recuse himself from cases that involve your department?
Bessent: I am sure that Mr. Alito follows all legal and… pic.twitter.com/2dW7cEdMTW
— Acyn (@Acyn) May 28, 2026
Levin wrote of the hiring of Alito’s son: “The administration hid it. No public resume, no LinkedIn, no mention on the Treasury website, outdated bar listings. Four former officials confirmed it. The public was never told.”
Samuel Alito’s son has worked as a lawyer inside Trump’s Treasury Department since early last year. The administration hid it.
No public resume, no LinkedIn, no mention on the Treasury website, outdated bar listings. Four former officials confirmed it.
The public was never…
— Mike Levin (@MikeLevin) May 28, 2026
Levin added: “Here is why that matters. Philip Alito served as an attorney-adviser in Treasury’s general counsel office, briefed on department matters across the board, while the Supreme Court took up a case in which the Treasury Department was a named defendant. The department never disclosed the connection in court. Justice Alito did not recuse. The federal recusal law is plain. A justice must step aside in any case where his impartiality might reasonably be questioned. That is the test. Not whether anyone can prove influence but whether a reasonable person looking at this would doubt it. A justice ruling on cases involving the very agency that employs his son fails that test on its face.”
Levin added: “And Treasury sits at the center of many upcoming issues, including the fight over Trump’s $1.776 billion dollar fund to reward the January 6th rioters he pardoned. That fight could be headed to the Court too. This is exactly why the honor system has failed. The Supreme Court is the only court in America with no enforceable code of conduct. I support withholding funding from the Court until the justices adopt a binding code with real recusal review. Congress holds the power of the purse. We should use it.”
Mike Fragoso, who served as chief counsel to Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and chief counsel for nominations and constitutional law for the Senate Judiciary Committee under Ranking Member Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and Chairman Lindsey Graham (R-SC), objected to the media coverage of the younger Alito as a “nepo baby.”
Fragoso (who managed the confirmation process for over 80 federal judges, including Justice Amy Coney Barrett) wrote: “What a bunch of [expletive]. Phil Alito was one of the best lawyers I worked with in the Senate who presumably only got better during his time as a prosecutor. Non-story in furtherance of a never-ending hit on Justice Alito. I wonder if Phil flies any flags?”
What a bunch of crap. Phil Alito was one of the best lawyers I worked with in the Senate who presumably only got better during his time as a prosecutor. Non-story in furtherance of a never-ending hit on Justice Alito. I wonder if Phil flies any flags? https://t.co/vdmXYvCYLy
— Mike Fragoso (@mike_frags) May 28, 2026