Nate Raymond and Moira Warrenburton

WASHINGTON (Reuters] – Wednesday’s U.S. House of Representatives committee voted in favor of a bill requiring that the Supreme Court adopt an ethical code and improve rules for judges and justices who have conflict of interest to recuse from certain cases.

House Judiciary Committee voted 22-16 to send the measure to full House. This follows Democratic calls for Justice Clarence Thomas (conservative) to withdraw from any cases related to Jan. 6, 2021’s attack at the U.S. Capitol. He was disqualified because his wife sent texts encouraging him to overturn 2020 elections.

Thomas’s wife Ginni Thomas was repeatedly asking Mark Meadows (then White House Chief of Staff) to intervene to reverse the election results.

The bill, which is the Supreme Court Ethics, Recus and Transparency Act 2022, was opposed by Republicans because of its focus on Thomas. This is despite bipartisan support for similar legislation in the past due to concerns over ethics with other justices.

Republican committee members claimed during the hearing Democrats were using legislation to intimidate Supreme Court Justices in light of the draft opinion which overturned federal abortion rights that was leaked last Wednesday.

Democrats contend that legislation is necessary in order to rebuild public confidence in one the country’s most significant institutions.

“People are justifiedly shocked to learn that there is not only no code for conduct on the Supreme Court but that justices continue to oppose the creation thereof,” Jerrold Nadler, Democratic chairman, stated before Wednesday’s election.

The bill the committee advanced https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/7647 calls for the Supreme Court to issue a code of conduct for its nine justices and would require the justices and their law clerks to disclose all gifts, reimbursements and income they receive.

Additionally, the bill increases standards for federal judges and justices to be excused from conflicts cases and provides new options for disqualification.

Groups who file friend-of–the-court briefs in support or opposition to an issue before a court need to reveal the names and addresses of all those involved in the preparation or funding.

There is still time for legislation that would reform the judiciary. Congress approved bipartisan legislation last month to make federal judges, including justices, subject to stricter disclosure requirements regarding their stock trading and financial holdings.