Unlike other members of the federal judiciary, the Supreme Court's nine life-tenured justices have no binding ethics code of conduct.
"The Supreme Court does a good job of that on their own," Republican Senator Mike Lee of Utah, who sits on the Senate Judiciary Committee, told Reuters, referring to ethics rules.
Senator John Kennedy, another Republican panel member, questioned whether lawmakers possess the power to impose ethics standards on the court.
The Judiciary Committee held a hearing on Supreme Court ethics concerns in May, but conservative Chief Justice John Roberts rebuffed Durbin's invitation to testify, citing "the importance of preserving judicial independence."
That code, binding to lower federal court judges but not the justices, requires judges to avoid even the "appearance of impropriety."
Persons:
Sheldon Whitehouse, Whitehouse, Dick Durbin, Clarence Thomas, Harlan Crow, ProPublica, Samuel Alito, Neil Gorsuch, Mike Lee of, John Kennedy, I'm, Kennedy, John Roberts, Roberts, they're, John Kruzel, Will Dunham
Organizations:
Democrats, U.S, Democratic, Republican, Representatives, Dallas, Politico, Reuters, Republicans, Thomson
Locations:
Alaska, Colorado, Mike Lee of Utah