Watchdog groups urge Senate to investigate Samuel Alito over oil stock conflicts

Source: The Guardian

Thu 14 May 2026 17.06 EDT
First published on Thu 14 May 2026 14.08 EDT


The supreme court justice Samuel Alito, who owns stock in oil companies, may be violating court ethics codes by participating in certain cases that could benefit big oil, government watchdog groups say. In a Thursday letter, a coalition of watchdog organizations called on the Senate judiciary committee to investigate Alito, the sole supreme court justice with holdings in energy companies.

“His irregular recusal practice in oil and gas industry-related cases is undermining public confidence in the impartiality of the Court,” says the letter, signed by green groups including the League of Conservation Voters and the Center for Biological Diversity, as well as progressive accountability watchdogs the Revolving Door Project and True North Research.

The high court in February agreed to take up a case brought by the oil majors Suncor Energy and Exxon – the first time the court agreed to weigh in on such a challenge. The companies asked the justices to find that federal law prevents subnational governments from filing lawsuits against oil and gas companies for the climate-warming effects of their products.

The court did not say which justices supported weighing in on the petition. Alito did not recuse himself, the letter notes. “No judge on any court, including the high court, should be allowed to hear cases where he or she have a financial stake in those cases,” said Lisa Graves, a former senior justice department official who now directs True North Research.

Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/may/14/alito-stock-conflicts-senate-investigation