WASHINGTON, D.C. (WCAX) – Ethics policy for the country’s highest court has been blocked in the U.S. Senate.
The Supreme Court Ethics, Recusal, and Transparency Act was introduced amid ethical lapses by Supreme Court justices and what Vermont Sen. Peter Welch calls an unenforceable code of conduct.
Earlier this week, Senate Republicans blocked attempts from the Senate Judiciary Committee Democrats to pass the legislation.
“We need a Supreme Court that has the credibility and confidence of this country because we face very difficult decisions that are quite contentious and divide America. And when those are contested and they go to the court, and the court renders a decision that all of us have to abide by, whether we are on the winning side or losing side, we absolutely must have a court that has credibility,” said Welch, D-Vermont.
The blocked act would create a code of conduct and a way to enforce it, improve financial disclosures, and strengthen requirements for the justices must recuse themselves.