US lawmakers have urged Congress to increase its oversight of the country’s highest court, following recent reports that some Supreme Court justices had failed to disclose gifts and real-estate sales.
Critics of the move claim that the hearing was motivated by the court’s rightward lurch in recent years, which has left it dominated by conservatives.
The hearing was called by US Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman, Dick Durbin, who claimed that the Supreme Court had “refused” to deal with the issue.
A recent Gallup poll showed a drop in trust in the Supreme Court, with only 47% of Americans expressing confidence in the institution.
Critics have claimed that Democrats have overstepped their bounds in calling for increased oversight of the Supreme Court’s ethics.
Republican Lindsey Graham has suggested that the hearing is part of a “concentrated effort by the left to delegitimise this court and to cherry-pick examples to make a point”.
Meanwhile, Michael Mukasey, who served as attorney general under former President George W. Bush, argued that the ethical concerns were politically motivated and rooted in vendettas against the conservative court.
The US Constitution limits the influence that Congress can have on the Supreme Court.
The court is not bound to comply with a code of ethics, and is defined as a co-equal branch of government.
Congress can do little to change this, although Durbin has argued that increased oversight is necessary to ensure the public’s confidence in the court.
In a letter declining an invitation to testify before the committee, US Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts said that the court had voluntarily adopted a resolution in 1991 to follow the substance of a code of conduct.
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