Durbin Statement on President Biden's Supreme Court Reform Proposal

Statement

I thank President Biden for highlighting the Supreme Court’s ethical crisis. Through our ongoing investigation, the Senate Judiciary Committee has verified and reported lavish trips by sitting justices that were paid for by wealthy benefactors, including some previously unknown to the public.

These episodes call into question the ability of justices to remain fair and impartial when these parties have interests before the Court. For instance, Justice Thomas’s spouse was on the payroll of political organizations seeking to overturn the 2020 election, yet Justice Thomas refused to recuse himself from cases on issues directly related to the January 6th insurrection. That includes the Supreme Court’s presidential immunity decision, which was wrongly decided and must be remedied.

If Chief Justice Roberts won’t use his existing authority to implement reform, Congress should use its established Constitutional authority to require the Court to implement ethics reforms consistent with every other federal court. The American people are demanding Supreme Court ethics reform, and I will continue my twelve-year effort until it is done.

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