U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts, though not addressing any specific case, implicitly defended Justices Elena Kagan and Clarence Thomas from calls that they recuse themselves from the Obamacare case, suggesting as well that it would be inappropriate for Congress or the other members of the Supreme Court to attempt to mandate a recusal.

“I have complete confidence in the capability of [all] my colleagues to determine when recusal is warranted,” Roberts wrote in his 2011 Year-End Report on the Federal Judiciary, released this evening. “They are jurists of exceptional integrity and experience whose character and fitness have been examined through a rigorous appointment and confirmation process.”