Justice Alito Made Up to $2.9M From Oil Stocks, Won't Recuse From Landmark Climate Case
A financial disclosure review published this week by the judicial watchdog Court Accountability found that Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito gained between roughly $390,000 and $2.9 million from fossil fuel holdings between 2005, when he joined the court, and 2024. Most of that gain traces to a mineral interest in Grady County, Oklahoma held by his wife, Martha-Ann Alito, along with a bequest of ExxonMobil stock he inherited in 2004 and later sold. Court Accountability co-founder Lisa Graves led the analysis and shared it exclusively with The Guardian before it spread across other outlets this week.
The findings land weeks before the Supreme Court opens its new term on October 5 with oral arguments in Suncor Energy Inc. v. Board of County Commissioners of Boulder County, a case that will decide whether federal law blocks state and local governments from suing fossil fuel producers over climate-related damages. The Trump administration is siding with Suncor and ExxonMobil in the case and has requested 10 minutes of argument time. Alito recused himself from an earlier version of this same dispute in 2023, but this year the court granted certiorari with Alito voting to hear it.
A Supreme Court spokesperson told NBC News in May that Alito is not required to recuse because his current personal holdings do not include Suncor or ExxonMobil, the two companies actually named in the suit. His most recent disclosure lists stock in ConocoPhillips, Phillips 66 and roughly a dozen other energy companies. Alito did recuse earlier this year from a separate case, Chevron USA v. Plaquemines Parish, because of his direct ConocoPhillips holdings. Court Accountability and a coalition of watchdog groups have asked the Senate Judiciary Committee to investigate his recusal practices.
Arguments for:
Court Accountability's Lisa Graves argues that decades of profit from the broader oil and gas sector create a financial affinity that could shape how a justice views industry-friendly outcomes, even without a stake in the two named companies.
Watchdog groups point out that Alito recused from this identical case in 2023 but reversed course in 2026 with no disclosed change in his financial position, calling the shift inconsistent.
Graves has questioned the timing of Alito's decision to sell his inherited Exxon stock, saying a justice should not be able to divest specifically to preserve eligibility to sit on a related case.
A coalition including environmental and government-ethics groups has formally asked the Senate Judiciary Committee to investigate Alito's recusal record, arguing it undermines public confidence in the court's impartiality.
Arguments against:
A Supreme Court spokesperson told NBC News that recusal is not required because Alito holds no personal stock in Suncor or ExxonMobil, the only two parties actually named in the lawsuit.
Requiring recusal over general exposure to an entire industry, rather than direct ownership in the parties themselves, could sideline justices from broad categories of cases tied to any sector they have ever invested in.
Alito has recused in other oil and gas cases where he held a direct stake, including this year's Chevron USA v. Plaquemines Parish over his ConocoPhillips holdings, suggesting he draws the line at direct ownership rather than sector-wide ties.
Removing a justice from a major case can leave the court split or short a vote, a cost the institution has to weigh against the ethics concern being raised.
What's your take?
Should Justice Alito recuse himself from the Suncor and Exxon climate liability case given his broader fossil fuel investments? Yes 
No 
Other 
Sources:
#SupremeCourt #JudicialEthics #ClimateChange #Alito #ConflictOfInterest
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