- Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin slammed Chief Justice John Roberts for failing to impose stronger ethical requirements.
- Durbin, who chairs the powerful Judiciary Committee, vowed his panel will move forward on proposals.
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Dick Durbin vowed on Thursday that the fight over imposing higher ethical standards on the Supreme Court isn't over, as scandal continues to swirl around the high court.
Durbin also swung at Chief Justice John Roberts who he faulted for failing to do more after multiple reports raised questions about whether Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito accepted improper gifts from people with ties to business before the court.
"I'm sorry to see Chief Justice Roberts end the term without taking action on the ethical issues plaguing the Court—all while the Court handed down decisions that dismantled longstanding precedents and the progress our country has made over generations," Durbin said in a statement.
The Judiciary Committee, Durbin added, will continue with its previously announced plans to consider legislation that would impose greater ethical requirements on the high court after lawmakers return to Washington following their July 4th holiday recess.
"The highest court in the land should not have the lowest ethical standards."
Roberts previously declined to appear before Durbin's panel, citing separation of powers concerns.
The Supreme Court ended its term with a series of controversial rulings that also exposed major differences among the justices themselves. Conservatives on the court, led by Roberts, effectively ended affirmative action in college admissions and axed President Joe Biden's nearly $400 billion student debt forgiveness plan. Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote a separate opinion that opened the door to greater discrimination against LGBTQ+ Americans in the name of free speech claims. Critics of the court seized on the reporting about ethical concerns also a way to further question its legitimacy.
ProPublica reported that Justice Thomas failed to report multiple lavish gifts and trips from GOP megadonor Harlan Crow, even when a company with ties to Crow had business before the court. Alito accepted a lavish trip from billionaire Paul Singer even though Singer was a major donor to a conservative think-tank that frequently took positions on pending cases. Alito issued an extraordinary rebuke of the reporting, arguing he too had done nothing wrong.
Republicans thus far have rejected Democrats' push for stiffer ethical requirements, making its future uncertain in a chamber where any proposal would need 60 votes to pass. The GOP-led House would also have to pass any legislation too, a potentially even stepper climb.