{"id":153216,"date":"2026-05-29T09:22:07","date_gmt":"2026-05-29T17:22:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/2026\/05\/29\/sam-alitos-son-was-quietly-working-at-treasury-while-his-dad-ruled-on-trumps-tariffs\/"},"modified":"2026-05-29T09:22:07","modified_gmt":"2026-05-29T17:22:07","slug":"sam-alitos-son-was-quietly-working-at-treasury-while-his-dad-ruled-on-trumps-tariffs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/2026\/05\/29\/sam-alitos-son-was-quietly-working-at-treasury-while-his-dad-ruled-on-trumps-tariffs\/","title":{"rendered":"Sam Alito\u2019s Son Was Quietly Working At Treasury While His Dad Ruled On Trump\u2019s Tariffs"},"content":{"rendered":"

There\u2019s a report out from NOTUS<\/a> this week that Philip Alito, son of Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito and former Gibson Dunn attorney, has been working at the Treasury Department. But um, no one at Treasury was in a hurry to advertise that fact. \u201cAlito\u2019s employment with the department is something of a closely guarded secret,\u201d NOTUS reports. \u201cHe doesn\u2019t maintain a public resume or LinkedIn, the Treasury Department website makes no mention of him, and his three professional bar listings are outdated or incorrectly list previous employers.\u201d<\/p>\n

The reason for the secrecy isn\u2019t hard to infer. \u201cEverybody knew who he was,\u201d one source told NOTUS. \u201cI think it\u2019s fair to say he kept a pretty low profile. I kind of had the impression that he was kind of a little bit sheepish about his celebrity affiliation. You\u2019d go into a meeting and if people were introducing themselves by first and last name, he\u2019d just say \u2018Phil,\u2019 not Phil Alito.\u201d According to a second source, Alito was made an attorney-adviser who would get briefed on all kinds of important Treasury matters and offer legal feedback, meaning he was, as that source put it, \u201cin all the meetings\u201d and \u201cknew all the issues across the board.\u201d The same source was direct about how he got there, \u201cThere\u2019s no doubt he got that position because of who he is.\u201d<\/p>\n

All of which would be mildly noteworthy on its own. But it takes a turn to the ethically questionable because Philip Alito was working at Treasury while the Treasury Department, along with other agencies, was actively defending Trump\u2019s tariffs before the Supreme Court. His father, Justice Samuel Alito, did not recuse himself and sat on those cases. <\/p>\n

The official responses have been, let us say, carefully worded. \u201cPhilip Alito is currently detailed from the U.S. Attorney\u2019s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia as a Counselor in the Office of the General Counsel, and his portfolio covers a broad range of topics,\u201d a Treasury spokesperson said<\/a>. \u201cAs a matter of both professional and personal judgment, Phil does not counsel on any matters reasonably expected before the Supreme Court.\u201d Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent added: \u201cI am sure that Mr. Alito follows all legal and ethical guidelines and I can assure you that at Treasury, we follow all the legal and ethical guidelines.\u201d And the Supreme Court\u2019s public information officer stated flatly: \u201cWhile there, he has not worked on any matter related to the tariffs imposed by the federal government. As a result, Justice Alito has not recused in those cases.\u201d<\/p>\n

And that Phil Alito\u2019s role was a weird secret is just a coinkydink is what we\u2019re all supposed to buy, I guess.<\/p>\n

The problem is that the entire predicate of this situation \u2014 a justice\u2019s son working at a department actively defending administration policy before that same Supreme Court, in a role kept deliberately low-profile \u2014 is exactly the kind of thing that the recusal framework exists to address. The question isn\u2019t only whether Philip Alito personally worked on the tariff cases, it\u2019s whether a reasonable person could question the impartiality of a justice whose son holds a position of trust at one of the agencies whose most consequential policy was simultaneously before the Court. The answer to that question seems fairly obvious, which may be why the whole arrangement was handled with such conspicuous quiet.<\/p>\n

This would be jarring from any justice. From Sam Alito, it lands differently because this is not his first, second, or even third ethics controversy<\/a>. This is the same justice who flew an upside-down \u201cStop the Steal\u201d flag outside his home<\/a> after January 6th and then blamed his wife, refused to recuse himself from Trump-related cases despite the flag controversy<\/a>, got caught accepting luxury travel from a donor with business before the Court<\/a> and then denied the relationship despite the fact it was noted way back in 2009, and has serially declined to explain his recusals<\/a> even after the Court adopted a new ethics code specifically designed to address that kind of opacity. A federal judge was literally rebuked for calling Alito\u2019s flag behavior \u201cimproper and dumb\u201d<\/a> \u2014 because the Supreme Court, which considers itself exempt from all judicial ethics rules, took the position that criticizing a justice\u2019s ethics is itself an ethics violation. You cannot make this up.<\/p>\n

The Supreme Court has spent years resisting meaningful ethics oversight on the grounds that it is a co-equal branch of government that can govern itself. Philip Alito\u2019s quiet Treasury role, and his father\u2019s non-recusal in the tariff case, is a pretty good illustration of how that\u2019s going.<\/p>\n

\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Kathryn Rubino is a Senior Editor at Above the Law, host of\u00a0The Jabot podcast<\/a>, and co-host of\u00a0Thinking Like A Lawyer<\/a>. AtL tipsters are the best, so please connect with her. Feel free to email\u00a0her<\/a>\u00a0with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter\u00a0@Kathryn1<\/a>\u00a0or Bluesky\u00a0@Kathryn1<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

The post Sam Alito\u2019s Son Was Quietly Working At Treasury While His Dad Ruled On Trump\u2019s Tariffs<\/a> appeared first on Above the Law<\/a>.<\/p>\n

<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t(Photo by Chip Somodevilla\/Getty Images)\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

There\u2019s a report out from NOTUS<\/a> this week that Philip Alito, son of Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito and former Gibson Dunn attorney, has been working at the Treasury Department. But um, no one at Treasury was in a hurry to advertise that fact. \u201cAlito\u2019s employment with the department is something of a closely guarded secret,\u201d NOTUS reports. \u201cHe doesn\u2019t maintain a public resume or LinkedIn, the Treasury Department website makes no mention of him, and his three professional bar listings are outdated or incorrectly list previous employers.\u201d<\/p>\n

The reason for the secrecy isn\u2019t hard to infer. \u201cEverybody knew who he was,\u201d one source told NOTUS. \u201cI think it\u2019s fair to say he kept a pretty low profile. I kind of had the impression that he was kind of a little bit sheepish about his celebrity affiliation. You\u2019d go into a meeting and if people were introducing themselves by first and last name, he\u2019d just say \u2018Phil,\u2019 not Phil Alito.\u201d According to a second source, Alito was made an attorney-adviser who would get briefed on all kinds of important Treasury matters and offer legal feedback, meaning he was, as that source put it, \u201cin all the meetings\u201d and \u201cknew all the issues across the board.\u201d The same source was direct about how he got there, \u201cThere\u2019s no doubt he got that position because of who he is.\u201d<\/p>\n

All of which would be mildly noteworthy on its own. But it takes a turn to the ethically questionable because Philip Alito was working at Treasury while the Treasury Department, along with other agencies, was actively defending Trump\u2019s tariffs before the Supreme Court. His father, Justice Samuel Alito, did not recuse himself and sat on those cases. <\/p>\n

The official responses have been, let us say, carefully worded. \u201cPhilip Alito is currently detailed from the U.S. Attorney\u2019s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia as a Counselor in the Office of the General Counsel, and his portfolio covers a broad range of topics,\u201d a Treasury spokesperson said<\/a>. \u201cAs a matter of both professional and personal judgment, Phil does not counsel on any matters reasonably expected before the Supreme Court.\u201d Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent added: \u201cI am sure that Mr. Alito follows all legal and ethical guidelines and I can assure you that at Treasury, we follow all the legal and ethical guidelines.\u201d And the Supreme Court\u2019s public information officer stated flatly: \u201cWhile there, he has not worked on any matter related to the tariffs imposed by the federal government. As a result, Justice Alito has not recused in those cases.\u201d<\/p>\n

And that Phil Alito\u2019s role was a weird secret is just a coinkydink is what we\u2019re all supposed to buy, I guess.<\/p>\n

The problem is that the entire predicate of this situation \u2014 a justice\u2019s son working at a department actively defending administration policy before that same Supreme Court, in a role kept deliberately low-profile \u2014 is exactly the kind of thing that the recusal framework exists to address. The question isn\u2019t only whether Philip Alito personally worked on the tariff cases, it\u2019s whether a reasonable person could question the impartiality of a justice whose son holds a position of trust at one of the agencies whose most consequential policy was simultaneously before the Court. The answer to that question seems fairly obvious, which may be why the whole arrangement was handled with such conspicuous quiet.<\/p>\n

This would be jarring from any justice. From Sam Alito, it lands differently because this is not his first, second, or even third ethics controversy<\/a>. This is the same justice who flew an upside-down \u201cStop the Steal\u201d flag outside his home<\/a> after January 6th and then blamed his wife, refused to recuse himself from Trump-related cases despite the flag controversy<\/a>, got caught accepting luxury travel from a donor with business before the Court<\/a> and then denied the relationship despite the fact it was noted way back in 2009, and has serially declined to explain his recusals<\/a> even after the Court adopted a new ethics code specifically designed to address that kind of opacity. A federal judge was literally rebuked for calling Alito\u2019s flag behavior \u201cimproper and dumb\u201d<\/a> \u2014 because the Supreme Court, which considers itself exempt from all judicial ethics rules, took the position that criticizing a justice\u2019s ethics is itself an ethics violation. You cannot make this up.<\/p>\n

The Supreme Court has spent years resisting meaningful ethics oversight on the grounds that it is a co-equal branch of government that can govern itself. Philip Alito\u2019s quiet Treasury role, and his father\u2019s non-recusal in the tariff case, is a pretty good illustration of how that\u2019s going.<\/p>\n

\n

\"\"Kathryn Rubino is a Senior Editor at Above the Law, host of\u00a0The Jabot podcast<\/a>, and co-host of\u00a0Thinking Like A Lawyer<\/a>. AtL tipsters are the best, so please connect with her. Feel free to email\u00a0her<\/a>\u00a0with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter\u00a0@Kathryn1<\/a>\u00a0or Bluesky\u00a0@Kathryn1<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

There\u2019s a report out from NOTUS this week that Philip Alito, son of Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito and former Gibson Dunn attorney, has been working at the Treasury Department. But um, no one at Treasury was in a hurry to advertise that fact. \u201cAlito\u2019s employment with the department is something of a closely guarded […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":153193,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-153216","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-above_the_law"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/xira.com\/p\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/IMG_5243-1-scaled-e1623338814705-620x568-0aIA5O.jpg?fit=620%2C568&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/153216","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=153216"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/153216\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/153193"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=153216"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=153216"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=153216"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}