Durbin says full steam ahead on Supreme Court ethics legislation

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Richard J. Durbin, the chamber’s No. 2 Democrat, said Thursday that legislation to impose ethics standards on Supreme Court justices will be considered once Congress returns from July Fourth recess next week.

The move will make good on a previous promise from the Illinois Democrat to try and enact laws governing the high court following reports of justices receiving lavish gifts, including those to conservative justices from wealthy Republican donors.

“Since the chief justice has refused to act, the Judiciary Committee must,” Mr. Durbin said in a statement. “The highest court in the land should not have the lowest ethical standards.”

Mr. Durbin, who also serves as Senate majority whip, added that exact timing for a vote would be announced early next week.

Any measures on the subject passed by the Democratic-led Senate would almost certainly not be entertained by the GOP-controlled House.

The Supreme Court’s current term came to a close last week, but not before it handed down several key wins for Republicans that dismantled race-based affirmative action in college admissions, sided with free speech and religious liberty over LGBTQ protection, and unraveled President Biden’s attempt to wipe out some $400 billion in student loan debt.

“I’m sorry to see Chief Justice [John] 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,” Mr. Durbin said.

The Senate Judiciary Committee’s top Republican, Sen. Charles E. Grassley of Iowa, said at a hearing on the subject in May that “judges are expected to comply with high standards and integrity, and it does appear that there needs to be better oversight.”

However, he — like many Republicans — argued that Democrats “and their left-wing dark money interests groups, as well their allies in the liberal media” were engaged in “a crusade to threaten, pack and smear the courts.”

The court’s recent decisions against left-leaning policies have reignited calls from liberals for Mr. Biden to reverse course and endorse potential changes to the bench, including expanding the number of justices.

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, a member of the far-left Squad, called for more justices in the face of what she described as a “dangerous creep toward authoritarianism.” She also said Congress “should be considering subpoenas and investigations.”

“We must pass much more binding and stringent ethics guidelines,” Ms. Ocasio-Cortez said Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union.”

Rep. Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts, another Squad member, said Sunday on MSNBC that “everything should be on the table” for the nine-member bench, including “reform and expansion.”

Some Democrats, including Ms. Ocasio-Cortez, have for more than a year called for Justice Clarence Thomas to resign or be impeached over his wife’s role in conservative activism and efforts to overturn the 2020 election. Such calls spread this year in response to a ProPublica investigation detailing Mr. Thomas’ business dealings with and lavish gifts from GOP billionaire Harlan Crow. The same outlet also reported that Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. went on an undisclosed luxury fishing trip with billionaire Paul Singer, who later had cases before the Supreme Court.

Mr. Roberts rebuffed Mr. Durbin’s earlier requests this year to testify about court ethics and potential changes, citing “separation of powers concerns and the importance of preserving judicial independence.”