House Dems call for Justice Thomas to recuse himself from major case due to ties with Koch network

Fifty House Democrats have petitioned Justice Clarence Thomas to recuse himself from an upcoming court case due to his ties with the Koch network.

ProPublica reported Friday that Mr. Thomas has attended more than one event held by the conservative network, including a private dinner for donors at its annual summit in California in 2018.

In the letter from the lawmakers, dated Wednesday, they took note of how the attorneys for the case are staff members for the Koch network.

“There is no question that your lengthy relationship with the Kochs, including your participation in donor retreats for the Koch network, requires recusal in the upcoming case that the Koch network has teed up in an attempt to overturn Chevron,” the lawmakers wrote. “Moreover, as you should be aware, the Koch network’s staff attorneys represent the plaintiffs in this case.”

The upcoming case, Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo, looks to overturn the decision of the 1984 case, Chevron U.S.A. Inc. v. Natural Resources Defense Council Inc.

What has come to be called the Chevron deference, the case gave federal agencies deference in implementing regulations that Congress has not explicitly allowed.

If overturned, agencies’ power would be limited, and their ability to issue regulations without getting approval from Congress would be slashed.

“Here, the Kochs — political activists that you have personally helped fundraise for and personally financially benefited from while their crusade to overturn Chevron was public and well-known — are a party to this case,” the letter read.

The letter, led by Rep. Dan Goldman, New York Democrat, continued that if the justice doesn’t recuse himself, it will do “irreparable harm to the court’s credibility and to the public’s faith in the impartial rulings of the entire federal judiciary.”

The Washington Times has reached out to Mr. Thomas through the Supreme Court.

The lawmakers also pointed out in the letter that the conservative justice has flip-flopped on this issue. In a case from 2005, he argued for the expansion of the Chevron deference’s protection for government agencies. In 2020, he reversed his opinion in another case, Howard L. Baldwin v. United States.

“While not widely known until ProPublica’s recent reporting, your extensive personal relationship with both Charles and David Koch raises serious questions about whether you had a conflict of interest in Baldwin,” the lawmakers wrote.

This isn’t the first time Mr. Thomas’ ethics have been called into question. Reports have said he accepted gifts and trips that he didn’t disclose on federal forms.