U.S. Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse wants an ethical Supreme Court; so does the president

U.S. Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) speaks before reporters at Rhode Island T.F. Green International Airport about the need for Supreme Court reform on Monday, July 29, 2024. (Christopher Shea/Rhode Island Current)

For the past three years, Rhode Island’s junior U.S. Senator has sounded the alarm against the influence of conservative groups in selecting justices to the Supreme Court and the need to fix the nation’s judicial branch.

Attempts to reform have stalled at the congressional level, but U.S. Sen Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) is hoping a call to action by President Joe Biden Monday can get the ball rolling again.

“The Court is in need of reform because it is no longer implementing the law fairly — it’s no longer reading the Constitution honestly,” Whitehouse told reporters at a press conference at Rhode Island T.F. Green International Airport Monday.

“It is instead doing the bidding of a small group of right-wing billionaires and their whole array of front groups that have spent over a decade working on capturing the Court and turning it into the tool of the far-right,” he continued.

The U.S. Supreme Court has faced sustained criticism in recent years over ethics scandals including undisclosed trips and gifts from wealthy political donors to some justices such as Clarence Thomas. Public trust in the court has also sunk following decisions to overturn Roe v. Wade and expand presidential immunity.

Biden on Monday published an op-ed in the Washington Post urging Congress to take up a constitutional amendment restoring criminal liability for U.S. presidents. He is also pressing lawmakers to establish term limits and an enforceable ethics code for the court’s nine justices — proposals Whitehouse said two bills he has sponsored “match precisely.”

In addition to Whitehouse, Rhode Island’s two House members, U.S. Reps. Gabe Amo and Seth Magaziner, have signaled their support for the president’s push to reform the court and have both co-sponsored legislation in the lower chamber.

“Americans deserve transparency and integrity in all branches of government, including the judiciary,” Magaziner said in a statement. “When Supreme Court justices receive lavish gifts, that’s corruption and it is wrong.”

Amo highlighted the need for reform on X.

“As @POTUS said, “in America, the people rule,’” Amo said. “Grateful for his work to ensure that no one is above the law.”

U.S. Sen. Jack Reed’s office did not respond to a request for comment, but the Ocean State’s senior senator is among the 43 co-sponsors of Whitehouse’s ethics reform legislation.

What’s in the reforms?

Whitehouse’s plan to overhaul the court would see a new justice appointed by the president every two years and limited to an 18-year term on the bench. 

Justices could still serve after the 18-year mark, but instead on a “senior” basis where they can only handle original jurisdiction cases, which typically focus on disputes between ambassadors, public ministers, and states. Only the nine most recently appointed justices would hear the more controversial appellate cases.

“It’s very similar to what happens on district courts and circuit courts of appeals right now,” Whitehouse explained.

The bill was referred to the Senate Committee on Judiciary last October, but no action has been taken.

Whitehouse’s other bill would require the court to draft a binding code of ethics and make it available for public comment. The legislation also creates a review board composed of lower court judges that would hear ethics complaints against Supreme Court justices.

The ethics bill was advanced out of the Senate Judiciary Committee along partisan lines in June 2023, but has yet to reach the upper chamber’s floor. Whitehouse told reporters Monday that Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) has given him “a solid commitment” that the chamber will take up the legislation.

More investigations should Democrats take U.S. House

Even if the ethics reform legislation were to pass the Senate, Whitehouse acknowledged it would likely be defeated in the GOP-controlled House of Representatives.

“The way I see it, is that the same creepy billionaires who are behind the effort to put these justices on the Court are also funding the dark money political operation of the Republican Party,” he said.

But he said reform can be attempted during the 119th U.S. Congress should Democrats manage to retake the House in November — along with the potential for more complete investigations into ethics complaints filed against justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito.

“I think it could be an investigation along the lines of and at the scale of the Jan. 6 commission,” he said.

Whitehouse, who chairs the Judiciary Subcommittee on Federal Courts, and Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) earlier this month sent a letter to U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland requesting the appointment of a special counsel after Thomas’ attorneys declined to answer what happened to a $267,000 loan the justice used to purchase a motor coach.

Such a loan is required to be noted on judicial disclosure forms and federal tax filings.

“And it’s not clear he did either,” Whitehouse said. “That merits further investigation because we are being stonewalled.”