Hawley claims Dems are trying to intimidate the Supreme Court

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Sen. Josh Hawley on Tuesday denounced efforts by Senate Democrats to force the U.S. Supreme Court to adopt stricter ethics laws, saying he felt it is an attempt by the majority party to intimidate the country’s highest court.

Speaking to a panel of ethics experts testifying in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee, the Missouri Republican referenced a March letter led by Rhode Island Democratic Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse and signed by 14 other Democratic senators. Hawley alleged the group wanted to withhold security funding from the Supreme Court unless the court adopted new rules.

“We have constant threats and danger to their children, we had radicals post publicly the school location of one of the justice’s children,” Hawley said. “And in that context to say that we will deny them millions of dollars in security funding unless they do what this body wants I think is the height of irresponsibility.”

The letter does not reference security funding. Instead, it suggests that the Senate withhold $10 million from the court’s budget in fiscal year 2024 unless the court adopts more stringent ethics standards.

Hawley, using the Supreme Court’s budget request, pieced together two budget increases requested by the judicial branch — $4 million for police pay in response to increased threats and $5.8 million to expand security by the Supreme Court Police.

Whitehouse’s office did not immediately respond to a question asking how the lawmakers had settled on $10 million. The overall budget request by the court was $130 million, not including expenses for the building and grounds. That would be a $17.6 million increase from fiscal year 2023.

“The Supreme Court has the tools and authority it needs to develop and implement these changes, including adopting a code of conduct, creating fairer and more transparent recusal rules, and setting up procedures—based on longstanding procedures in the lower courts—to receive and investigate complaints of judicial misconduct,” Whitehouse wrote in the March letter. “The only obstacle keeping the Court from adopting these reforms is the Court’s own unwillingness to see them through.”

The argument over Supreme Court ethics comes as public trust in the institution has fallen in recent years. A September Gallup poll found that people who said they had a great deal or fair amount of trust in the court had dropped by 29% between 2020 and 2022.

The drop came as conservatives cemented a 6-3 majority on the court and dropped even farther after it overturned the constitutional right to an abortion last summer, setting off a domino effect as Missouri and other Republican-led states moved to ban the procedure.

Whitehouse’s letter was sent to two Senate chairman in charge of judicial appropriations on March 31 and referenced Justice Clarence Thomas’ decision not to recuse himself from a case that involved his wife’s political activities and allegations that anti-abortion activists spent $30 million lobbying justices.

Less than a week after the letter, ProPublica published an article detailing how Justice Clarence Thomas accepted luxury trips from conservative billionaire Harlan Crow that did not appear on his financial disclosure form.

The article prompted renewed calls from Senate Democrats for tougher ethics laws by the court — a call that has been met with resistance from Senate Republicans who have claimed Democrats are at risk of violating the separation of powers.

“I don’t care what trips the justices take, I’ll leave that to them,” Hawley said, when asked how he felt about Thomas’ trips. “They ought to comply with the ethics rules, but if the Democrats want them to have to disclose that stuff, then they should urge the Judicial Conference to change their rules.”

The Judicial Conference is a group made up of judges that serves as the policymaking body for the courts.

Sen. Eric Schmitt, a Missouri Republican, said he believes the court should decide whether it should implement stricter ethics laws. He said he believes the push by Democrats to enact legislation overseeing the court is a precursor to efforts to add more justices to the court — an idea called “stacking the court” that was brought up during the 2020 Democratic presidential primary.

“I just think it’s a real threat to the Republic,” Schmitt said. “Ultimately to me, this is them laying the foundation for wanting to pack the Supreme Court and delegitimize the court.”

President Joe Biden established a commission to study the court, including whether to add additional judges, in 2021.

While there is disagreement between Republicans and Democrats about whether Congress should step in, there appears to be bipartisan support for the court to adopt more transparent ethics measures.

In a letter to the Judiciary Committee, former federal appeals court Judge Michael Luttig — who was friends with Justice Antonin Scalia, who passed away in 2016, and helped guide Thomas through his contentious Supreme Court nomination — wrote that Congress shouldn’t have to step in because the Court should be holding itself to the highest standards.

“The nation should never have reason to question the ethical conduct of the Supreme Court,” Luttig wrote. “It is the responsibility of the Supreme Court, and of each Justice who serves on the Court, to ensure that there never even be such a question raised.”

Daniel Desrochers covers Washington, D.C. for the Kansas City Star. He previously covered politics and government for the Lexington Herald-Leader in Kentucky and the Charleston Gazette-Mail in Charleston, West Virginia.