Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas was hospitalized Friday with an infection after experiencing “flu-like symptoms,” a spokesperson for the court said in a statement. A spokesperson told CBS News on Sunday that Thomas does not have COVID-19.
Thomas is being treated at Sibley Memorial Hospital in Washington, D.C., with intravenous antibiotics and his “symptoms are abating,” the court said, adding that the 73-year-old justice “expects to be released from the hospital in a day or two.” The court did not elaborate on the type of infection.
“Justice Thomas will participate in the consideration and discussion of any cases for which he is not present on the basis of the briefs, transcripts, and audio of the oral arguments,” the statement said.
The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear arguments in several cases on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. This week also marks the beginning of confirmation hearings for President Biden’s Supreme Court nominee, Ketanji Brown Jackson, who would replace retiring Justice Stephen Breyer if confirmed by the Senate.
Thomas, considered a member of the court’s conservative wing, was nominated for the high court by President George H. W. Bush in 1991 and sworn in later that year.
