Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts is facing rising calls from Democratic lawmakers to get more involved in scrutinizing details surrounding Justice Clarence Thomas‘s undisclosed luxury trips.
Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, sent a letter to Roberts on Thursday asking that he or another justice of his choosing appear before the Senate panel for testimony on May 2.
Durbin has limited the request to questions surrounding Supreme Court ethics issues amid mounting scrutiny over trips Thomas made that were paid for by Texas billionaire businessman Harlan Crow.
“Under federal law, Supreme Court justices are required to file annual financial disclosures, but Thomas has publicly said he was advised that the trips fell into a personal hospitality exception,” The Hill’s Zach Schonfeld writes.
“The federal judiciary’s policy-making arm last month clarified the exception, and Thomas said he will follow that guidance in the future,” Schonfeld added.
Still, Democrats have called on Roberts to investigate the matter.
Democrats on the Judiciary panel support a binding code of ethics for Supreme Court justices, something the chief justice resisted in 2011.
Durbin told reporters “there’s been no discussion of subpoenas for anyone at this point” should Roberts decline to testify voluntarily.
Democrats would need a majority to vote for a subpoena but the panel is currently deadlocked, with Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) still out recovering from shingles — an absence that has frustrated some Democrats.
“I would be surprised if he agreed to come. And I would support his decision not to come if that’s what he wanted to do,” Senate Judiciary Committee ranking member Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) told reporters of Roberts.
