Sen. Lindsey Graham says he will block Democrats’ efforts to unanimously pass Supreme Court ethics reform bill

Sen. Lindsey Graham, the top Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, plans to block an effort by Senate Democrats to unanimously pass a Supreme Court ethics bill Wednesday on the Senate floor.

“I will oppose it,” Graham told NBC News.

The South Carolina senator’s comments came after Senate Majority Leader Dick Durbin, D-Ill., who chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee, said Tuesday he would make a request for unanimous consent to pass the Supreme Court ethics legislation that the panel introduced last July.

The South Carolina Republican’s objection means the bill cannot move forward because any senator can block a request.

It’s unclear whether the measure will come up for a vote in the normal process, but Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said he is considering it.

Even before Graham’s comments, Democrats were skeptical the legislation would move forward. “I think I know the outcome, but let’s do the exercise to make sure both parties are on the record,” Durbin told reporters Tuesday afternoon.

The Democratic-led Judiciary Committee advanced the Supreme Court Ethics, Revocation and Transparency Act on a party-line vote nearly a year ago, but cannot break a filibuster on the Senate floor without 60 votes. Democrats have 51 members and no Republicans agree on the bill.

In a press release related to the vote, Democrats said the vote follows “a myriad of apparent ethical lapses by Supreme Court justices that demonstrate the need for ethics reform.”

A Supreme Court spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday night.

Justice Clarence Thomas recounted two trips in 2019 with billionaire friend Harlan Crow to Bali and the private Bohemian Grove club in California in his annual financial disclosure report released last week. ProPublica had previously reported in The previously unreported lavish travels of Thomas and other justices in a series of stories last year raised questions about the ethics of the high court.

The bill would give the court 180 days to adopt and publish a code of conduct, allowing the public to file ethics complaints that would then be reviewed by a randomly selected panel of lower court judges. It would also establish new rules for disclosing gifts and travel.

The legislation would also require judges to publicly explain any decisions to dismiss a case.

Durbin last month asked Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito to recuse himself from two cases linked to the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot after The New York Times reported that an inverted American flag was displayed outside his home in the days after the Capitol riot. Alito subsequently refused to recuse himself from these cases.