Senate Committee to Consider Supreme Court Ethics Bill

A Senate committee plans to consider Supreme Court ethics legislation after the July 4 recess following a ProPublica report on Justice Samuel Alito revealing that he did not disclose a luxurious trip with a billionaire,

“The Supreme Court is in an ethical crisis of its own making due to the acceptance of lavish gifts from parties with business before the Court that several Justices have not disclosed," Sens. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) said in a statement.

"Chief Justice Roberts could resolve this today, but he has not acted," they continued. "[I]f the Court won’t act, then Congress must.”

In April, Durbin and Judiciary Committee Democrats sent a letter to Roberts, urging him to address the alleged ethical improprieties described by ProPublica related to Clarence Thomas's failure to disclose gifts from billionaire Harlan Crow. That letter was forwarded to the Judicial Conference Committee on Financial Disclosure.

Durbin, the Senate majority whip and chair of the Judiciary Committee, invited Roberts to appear before the panel at a hearing in early May, but Roberts declined the offer.

The billionaire, Paul Singer, later had cases heard before the Supreme Court. ProPublica also noted that Alito did not recuse himself from a prominent case involving Singer.

Alito said in a Wall Street Journal op-ed that he was unaware that any of Singer's businesses were involved, as the billionaire himself was not named.