A top Senate appropriator is considering blocking operating funding for the Supreme Court in the fiscal 2025 spending bill and requiring the court to enforce an ethics code to gain access to it following controversies over the political behavior of the wives of Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito and gifts the justices have received from wealthy friends.
In the upcoming appropriations measure to fund “general government,” which includes the Supreme Court, the chairman of the appropriations subcommittee is “definitely” considering reviving a proposal this year to force the court to implement an enforceable ethics code.
Financial Services and General Government Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman Chris Van Hollen, a Maryland Democrat, told Fox News Digital on Thursday about a proposal he introduced last year “to ring fence” [off] part of the Supreme Court funds,” except for protection money.
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Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., left, is considering tying the Supreme Court's operating funding to its enforcement of an ethics code. (Fake Images)
His idea at the time was to block some of the court's operational funding “until the Supreme Court implemented an enforceable code of ethics similar to that which applies to lower courts,” he said.
Now, as the Supreme Court and Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito come under renewed scrutiny for alleged unethical conduct, Van Hollen is “considering doing it again.”
Renewed calls from Democrats for an ethics code for Supreme Court justices mounted last year following a report detailing Thomas' friendship with billionaire real estate mogul Harlan Crow and some of the lavish gifts she had received from him.
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A report last year detailed Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas' friendship with billionaire real estate mogul Harlan Crow and some of the lavish gifts he had received from him. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
The effort gained new momentum this summer after reports earlier this year of an upside-down American flag and an “Appeal to Heaven” flag being flown at Alito’s homes. Some claimed the upside-down American flag was a sign of support for those who rioted at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. However, Alito said the flag was flown by his wife in a dispute with a neighbor.
Several Democratic senators asked Alito and Thomas to recuse themselves from cases related to the 2020 election, suggesting they cannot be impartial on the matter. In particular, the justices were asked to recuse themselves from the issue of former President Trump's immunity, which was ruled on earlier this month.
Neither Thomas nor Alito have recused themselves from the case. In a 6-3 decision, the high court found that Trump has substantial immunity from criminal prosecution for official acts committed while in office. The immunity does not extend to unofficial acts.
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On January 17, 2021, days after supporters of former President Trump stormed the U.S. Capitol, an upside-down American flag was displayed outside Justice Samuel Alito’s home. Alito said his wife waved the flag in a dispute with a neighbor. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais, File)
Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., was one of the most vocal Democrats in favor of the recusal. Earlier this summer, he told Fox News Digital that he had heard “some discussion” about including the Supreme Court Ethics, Recusal and Transparency Act in the annual appropriations bill.
““I believe we should use every tool available to force the Supreme Court to adopt a truly enforceable code of ethics,” he said at the time.
The bill has not yet been brought to the Senate floor for a vote, even though Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, a Democrat, has the ability to do so. Schumer's office did not respond to a request for comment last month on whether he would take up the bill and whether there was enough Democratic support to justify it.
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Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., right, revived an ethics concern he had with Justice Alito last year amid the ongoing backlash to flags flown at justices' homes. (Fake Images)
Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, R-Ill., has led his colleagues in crafting the bill and has advocated for its passage once again in the wake of the Alito controversy. The senator recently told Fox News Digital that he had spoken with Schumer about the possibility of bringing the bill to a vote, but that it depended on scheduling.
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According to Sen. Peter Welch, D-Vt., who has joined calls to pass the legislation, his “preference” is not the earmarks route.
The senator said he would prefer to “have a direct discussion about Supreme Court ethics.”
“Everyone should want a court that has credibility and respect for Republicans and Democrats, because we all have to abide by the decisions they make,” he said last month. “That's why I prefer a straightforward and independent approach.”
