On Monday, as Spencer covered, the U.S. Supreme Court unveiled a "code of conduct" that the justices said in a statement they were "promulgating." The move came after a relentless crusade from Democrats, particularly those on the Senate Judiciary Committee, which Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) currently chairs.
That same day, Durbin responded on the Senate floor, with a statement also posted to the Committee newsroom website.
It wasn't until towards the end of his remarks that Durbin even admitted "I’m still reviewing the Court’s new code of conduct" and pointed to it as something that "marks a step in the right direction." He still reiterated his displeasure with the Court, though, by claiming "it may fall short of the ethical standards which other federal judges are held to, and that’s unacceptable. And if it falls short, the American people will ultimately have the last word, and the integrity of the Court is at issue," he continued.
Before making that point, Durbin applauded a fellow Democrat, Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island. He also claimed to be speaking for the American people and that what was in the code amounted to "important steps, but they fall short of what we could and should expect when a Supreme Court issues a code of conduct."
Durbin still spoke out against the Court, even with their code of ethics, as he claimed "the Court’s previous practices were plainly inadequate," specifically because "the Court’s new code of conduct does not appear to contain any meaningful enforcement mechanism to hold justices accountable for any violations of the code." Another complaint includes how the code "also leaves a wide range of decisions up to the discretion for individual justices, including decisions on recusal from sitting on cases."
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This underscores how Durbin has gone after such a right the judges have. Back in April, Durbin had called on Chief Justice John Roberts appear before the Committee, though the chief justice firmly refused. Roberts' response indicated for Durbin to stay in his lane and respect the separation of powers.
Given that Democrats on the Committee were ready to subpoena The Federalist Society's Leonard Leo and billionaire Harlan Crowe until the last minute, it doesn't seem likd Durbin got the message.
Durbin reiterated the point that the code supposedly "falls short" over his X account.
The Supreme Court has finally responded after years of refusing to act on ethics reform.
— Senator Dick Durbin (@SenatorDurbin) November 14, 2023
Its new code of conduct is a step, but it falls short of what we could and should expect from a code of conduct.
Not long after Durbin made such complaints, Townhall caught up with Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), who is also a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee. As we've covered, Cruz has spoken out against Democrats' treatment of conservative justices, including and especially Justice Clarence Thomas.
The differences could hardly be starker between Durbin and Cruz, with the latter recognizing the importance of the Court making the decision for itself. "I'm glad the Supreme Court put out its new ethics rules," Cruz shared. "The Supreme Court has always operated under rules of ethics, but given the concerted attack on the Supreme Court waged by Democrats, it was a positive step for the Court to codify those rules and put them out explicity."
Roberts had reminded Durbin in his letter turning down his request that the justices abide by a code of ethics.
However, Cruz also warned that "the fact that the Court acted is not going to prevent the Democrats from their relentless assault on the Court." He went so far as to point out "what Senate Democrats are doing has nothing to do with ethics." Rather, "it has everything to do with trying to delegitimize the Supreme Court, because it is the one part of the federal government they cannot control."
This speaks to the particular animosity against Justice Thomas. "In particular, it has everything to do with their concerted effort to smear Justice Clarence Thomas. Senate Democrats hate Justice Thomas with a deep, loathing passion," Cruz stressed. "And as a result, they have applied a blatant double standard."
Despite all of the hit job reports on Thomas, which have been thorougly criticized, "Justice Thomas complied with the rules, the ethics rules of the Supreme Court. He complied with the same standard that other justices have complied with, and yet the Senate Democrats happily turned a blind eye to similar, even identical conduct by [former] Justice Stephen Breyer, [the late] Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and Justice Sonia Sotomayor," Cruz continued, speaking to points he's raised in the past. "Their objective is to try to tear down Clarence Thomas," the senator emphasized once more.
As for what's next, stay tuned. Both Durbin and Cruz seem to be expecting more to come out of this when it comes to the Democratic crusade. "It's disgraceful, but I fully expect we'll see more of it," Cruz also pointed out.
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