Senate committee advances Supreme Court ethics bill

The Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday voted to advance the Supreme Court Ethics, Recusal and Transparency Act to require that the justices create a code of conduct and a process by which the public may submit ethics complaints against their members.

The committee advanced the measure on party lines in an 11-10 vote, The Hill reported.

Democrats have pushed such legislation in the wake of reports of possible ethics violations by members of the court, most notably Associate Justice Clarence Thomas, whose relationship with a GOP megadonor has attracted intense scrutiny.

Republicans have contended that the effort represents a partisan attempt to undercut the conservative majority on the top bench. The court has issued a series of contentious rulings in recent months, notably striking down President Joe Biden's student debt relief plan, as well as affirmative action.

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Dick Durbin took exception to such accusations, saying "[s]ome have suggested that Democrats are pursuing Supreme Court ethics reform to target the court’s current right-wing majority. Far from it. The reforms we are proposing would apply in equal force to all justices," per the outlet.

South Carolina Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham, however, was unconvinced.

"What you’re trying to do is not improve the court, you’re trying to destroy it as it exists," he said. "You have done just about everything there is to do to delegitimize this court. Members of the Democratic leadership went to the steps of the Supreme Court and literally threatened people."

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, for his part, previously advised that Congress stay out of the Supreme Court's ethics concerns, expressing confidence that Chief Justice John Roberts could handle the issue on his own.

"Look, the Supreme Court, in my view, can’t be dictated to by Congress. I think the chief justice will address these issues," he said in June. "Congress should stay out of it, because we don’t, I think, have the jurisdiction to tell the Supreme Court how to handle the issue."

Ben Whedon is an editor and reporter for Just the News. Follow him on Twitter.