Judiciary Democrats will vote on Thursday to create new guardrails for the justices. Their plan is likely to stall -- but becoming law isn't the point.
Senate Democrats want to keep conservative Supreme Court justices’ ties to GOP donors — and its rightward bent overall — in the public spotlight.
Top Democrats’ decision to push ahead on the bill during the high court’s off-season is designed to keep reminding voters about the conservative court’s more polarizing recent opinions, from last year’s reversal ofon LGBTQ protections. That’s not to mention reporting on ethical entanglements by Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito that has commanded the attention of the party’s liberal base.
The Democratic slugfest is borne from frustration over former President Donald Trump’s appointment of three conservative justices, tipping the balance of the court rightward. Recent ProPublica reporting about Thomas and Alito’s relationships with GOP donors heightened Democrats’ focus on judicial ethics and revived intra-party talk of a potential court expansion as they anticipate years of more conservative decisions.
Whitehouse’s plan would require the high court to set up stricter rules for justices to recuse themselves from cases as well as create a new board to investigate connections between justices and those arguing before the court. The bill also would require a new code of conduct for justices to be published and implemented within 180 days.
Sen. Joe Manchin said “there’s something that needs to be done” and he would consider supporting the bill, though he added that Congress needs ethics reform as well. Sen. Jon Tester said he’d like “at minimum” for the high court to “have the same ethics rules as the Senate,” where there is strict guidance on members’ receipt of gifts. The vote of Arizona Independent Sen. Kyrsten Sinema is also a question mark.
Democrats insist that their relentless focus on court ethics is nonpartisan, given that all justices would be subject to the bill’s reforms. Recent reports that liberal Justice Sotomayor’s taxpayer-funded staff tried to boost her book sales creates a record of ethical missteps on both sides of the court — even garnering a critical mention on the floor from Durbin on Wednesday.
Norge Siste Nytt, Norge Overskrifter
Similar News:Du kan også lese nyheter som ligner på denne som vi har samlet inn fra andre nyhetskilder.
One person dead, one in custody after shooting in Highlands RanchOne person is dead after a Tuesday morning shooting at a house in Highlands Ranch, and authorities have taken one person into custody.
Les mer »
Two-faced star seems to have one hydrogen side and one helium sideA strange star more than 1300 light years away appears to have two sides with completely different compositions, and astronomers aren’t sure how it ended up that way
Les mer »
The real problem for Black college students | Will Bunch NewsletterPlus, GOP (and Dems) don’t get what’s really immoral about America’s defense budget.
Les mer »
Democrat strategists, experts stress over Republicans' 'masculinity' appeal: Dems doing 'pretty much nothing'Left-leaning experts and Democratic strategists discussed their party's difficulty in connecting with men, which Politico called the 'masculinity problem.'
Les mer »
Ted Cruz, Rick Scott, Josh Hawley: How hard will Dems go after 3 favorite foes?They objected to President Joe Biden's 2020 win and are pugnacious culture warriors, driving up oodles of campaign cash for both parties. Still, Democrats' 2024 strategy doesn't rely on unseating them.
Les mer »