Samuel Alito says Congress could shut off the Supreme Court’s lights by withholding funding. He also compared the judiciary to a hand grenade rather than a nuclear weapon. A reassuring presentation, provided your first question was whether the building came in a smaller explosive size.

Speaking at a Federalist Society dinner Thursday, Alito stressed judicial independence and the Court’s vulnerability to the more powerful political branches. He did not directly refer to the midterms, and the report describes no actual congressional plan to cut the power.

An electrician receiving this hypothetical pitch might have concerns. Please preserve our independence. Also, we are a grenade.

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The electrician puts down the ladder.

You’re the least dangerous grenade?

Among the three things we’re comparing, yes.

He adds a surcharge and recommends daylight.

Alito also blamed some lower judges’ sweeping orders, which he considers unjustified, for the growth of the emergency docket. The Supreme Court has frequently let Trump policies proceed through interim rulings while the underlying cases continue.

Those are temporary decisions, not necessarily final judgments. The switch can move before the wiring has been fully inspected.

But Alito’s metaphor has clarified one thing: if the Court ever offers a guided tour, let somebody else pull the cord.