However, there is little chance that the full Senate will approve the initiative.
The panel voted along partisan lines Thursday on a bill that seeks to impose new court ethics rules and a process for enforcing them, including new transparency standards around challenges, gifts and potential conflicts of interest. Democrats pushed through the legislation after reports earlier this year that Justice Clarence Thomas took lavish vacations and participated in a real estate deal with a major Republican donor, and after Chief Justice John Roberts refused to testify before the court’s ethics committee.
Since then, news reports have also revealed that Judge Samuel Alito spent a luxury vacation with a Republican donor. And The Associated Press reported last week that Judge Sonia Sotomayor, with the help of her staff, has advanced sales of her books through college tours for the past decade.
Opening the committee meeting, committee chair Senator Dick Durbin said the legislation would be a “crucial first step” in restoring trust in the court.
Even as the ethics legislation has a slim chance of passing the Senate, Democrats say the spate of disclosures means court-enforceable standards are needed.
The Supreme Court “has not been able to clean up its own mess,” said Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-Rhode Island, the lead sponsor of the ethics bill.
Former President Donald Trump nominated three conservative justices to the Supreme Court and all were confirmed when Republicans held a majority in the Senate, with considerable opposition from Democrats. As a result, the court has shifted sharply to the right, striking down the nation’s right to abortion and other liberal priorities.
FOUNTAIN: Associated Press
