The Senate’s top appropriations official is considering excluding Supreme Court operating funds from the fiscal 2025 spending bill and forcing the court to enforce ethics rules to access that money, following controversy over the political activities of the wives of Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito and gifts given to the justices by wealthy friends.
In the next spending measure to fund “general government,” including the Supreme Court, the chairman of the Appropriations Subcommittee is “certainly” considering reviving this year a proposal to require courts to implement enforceable ethics codes.
Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), chairman of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government, told Fox News Digital on Thursday that he had proposed a bill last year that [off] “Cut” parts of the Supreme Court’s budget, except for funding for safeguards.
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Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) has considered tying the Supreme Court’s funding to enforcement of ethics rules. (Getty Images)
His thinking at the time, he said, was to sequester some of the Supreme Court’s operating funds “until the Supreme Court implements an enforceable code of ethics similar to those that apply to lower courts.”
Now, with the Supreme Court and Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito facing new investigations into alleged unethical conduct, Van Hollen is “considering doing so again.”
Democrats grew vocal last year in calling for ethics enforcement for Supreme Court justices after reports of Thomas’ friendship with billionaire real estate mogul Harlan Crow and some of the lavish gifts he received from him.
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Last year’s report detailed Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas’ friendship with billionaire real estate mogul Harlan Crow and some of the lavish gifts he received from him. (Drew Ungerer/Getty Images)
The movement gained momentum again this summer after reports earlier this year showed an upside-down American flag and an “Appeal to Heaven” flag hanging in Alito’s home. Some claimed the upside-down American flag was a sign of support for those who rioted at the Capitol on January 6, 2021. However, Alito said the flag was put up by his wife following an argument with a neighbor.
Several Senate Democrats have called on Justices Alito and Thomas to recuse themselves from cases related to the 2020 election, suggesting they would not be able to be impartial in those cases, particularly in the immunity case against former President Trump that they ruled on earlier this month.
Neither Justice Thomas nor Justice Alito recused themselves from the case. In a 6-3 decision, the Supreme Court held that Trump has effective immunity from prosecution for official business performed while in office, but that immunity does not extend to private conduct.
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A few days after supporters of former President Trump stormed the U.S. Capitol on January 17, 2021, an upside-down American flag was flown outside the home of Justice Samuel Alito. Justice Alito said the flag was put up by his wife during an argument with a neighbor. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais, File)
Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), one of the Democrats who has been the most vocal in calling for their resignations, told Fox News Digital earlier this summer that there had been “some discussion” about including Supreme Court ethics, recusal and transparency legislation in the annual budget bill.
““Everything should be done to force the Supreme Court to adopt a truly enforceable code of ethics,” he said at the time.
The bill has not yet been put to a vote on the Senate floor, even though Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., has the authority to do so. Schumer’s office did not respond to a request for comment last month about whether he would bring the bill to a vote or whether it had enough Democratic support to justify a vote.
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Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (R) reiterated the ethics concerns he had about Justice Alito last year amid the ongoing backlash over the flag flying in the justice’s home. (Getty Images)
Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-Ore.) has led his colleagues in pushing for the bill to pass again following Senator Alito’s debate, telling Fox News Digital recently that he has spoken with Senator Schumer about bringing the bill to the floor for a vote, but that it depends on the timeline.
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According to Sen. Peter Welch (D-Vermont), who joined the call for the bill to pass, his “preference” is not the appropriations route.
“I want to have a frank discussion about the ethics of the Supreme Court,” the senator said.
“I think everybody wants a court that has the trust and respect of both Republicans and Democrats, because we’re all going to have to abide by their decisions,” he explained last month. “So I would rather have a squarely independent approach.”
