Trump's Economic Policies May Have Cost One Justice Half a Million Dollars
By Manny Marotta, FTC law clerk
Over the past week, many Americans have been frustrated by the severity of President Trump’s tariffs and their impact on the stock market, which is experiencing one of its largest declines in decades.
While many of us have watched our retirement accounts diminish due to protectionist trade policies, Fix the Court asks: how badly might the justices’ portfolios be affected?
We took a look at the justice with the most stock holdings — Justice Alito, who, per his latest disclosure, held a stake in 28 publicly traded companies, plus stakes in dozens of bonds and mutual funds, at the end of 2023 — and found that many of those holdings have taken a serious hit since Trump’s inauguration in January.
How big of a hit? We compiled a list of Alito’s stock positions and found that his portfolio declined by as much as $530,365 since Trump’s inauguration, though it’s possible, since stocks are listed in ranges on the disclosures, that he “only” lost $173,648. That said, Alito should be fine. The value range for his investment portfolio: $2.9 to $7.6 million.
Guess Trump and Alito didn’t talk about economic policy on their Jan. 7 call.