Justice Brett Kavanaugh said he is “hopeful” the Supreme Court may soon act on its own to address “perceived ethics issues” as some Democratic lawmakers are pushing their own legislation to rein in the court.
Kavanaugh made his comments on Thursday during a conference of judges and lawyers after he was asked by Judge Stephanie Dawkins Davis of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit about the perception of ethics matters on the Supreme Court.
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“The chief justice spoke about that in May and said that we’re continuing to work on those issues and that is accurate, we are continuing to work on those issues,” Kavanaugh said, referring to a speech by Chief Justice John Roberts. “And I’m hopeful that there will be some concrete steps taken soon on that.”
The associate justice said while he’s hopeful there will be “concrete steps soon” to address recent ethics concerns around the court, Kavanaugh did not specifically endorse an official code of ethics tailored to the nine justices.
Kavanaugh’s comments come days after Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) called on Roberts to investigate Justice Samuel Alito, who recently pushed back on the notion that Congress could police ethical behavior among the nine justices.
Whitehouse, who is seeking to pass legislation to enforce ethics on the high court, alleged Alito was improperly opining on matters related to congressional duties when the justice dismissed the notion that Congress could pass such a bill during a July interview with the Wall Street Journal.
Roberts declined a request from the Senate Judiciary Committee, which Whitehouse is a member of, to testify before the panel in late April.
Roberts’s letter to committee Chairman Dick Durbin (D-IL) explained that testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee by chief justices has been “exceedingly rare — as one might expect,” but attached a “Statement on Ethics Principles and Practices” signed by all of the current justices in his letter declining to testify.
Concerns from Democrats and left-leaning organizations about ethics on the high court erupted this year after reports emerged suggesting Justice Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito had engaged in travel opportunities, some of them as far back as the last decade, that were financed by outside parties.
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It was revealed Thomas took several unreported trips with Republican donor and real estate mogul Harlan Crow, while Alito went on a fishing trip to Alaska in 2008 with billionaire Paul Singer.
Both justices have denied wrongdoing and have since said they would cooperate with changes to disclosure rules in March that require greater public disclosure of any free trips, meals, or gifts they receive.
