Majority Leader Schumer Floor Remarks On The Senate Judiciary Committee Advancing Much-Needed Supreme Court Ethics Reform Legislation

Washington, D.C. – Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) today spoke on the Senate floor as the Senate Judiciary Committee was set to consider Supreme Court ethics reform legislation. Below are Senator Schumer’s remarks, which can also be viewed here:

This morning, as I speak, the Judiciary [Committee] is holding votes to advance Supreme Court ethics reform legislation. I support Chairman Durbin, Senator Whitehouse, and the Judiciary Committee’s work on SCOTUS ethics reform, and I look forward to working with them to make progress on this legislation.

Holding Supreme Court justices to high ethical standards should not be a partisan issue. On the contrary, both sides should leap at the opportunity to do whatever we can to protect the public’s trust in our system of justice. It is an essential part of protecting our democracy.

And right now, sadly, Americas’ trust in the Supreme Court is understandably shaken. They see Supreme Court justices accepting lavish gifts and vacations from billionaires and MAGA extremists – not your ordinary run-of-the-mill billionaires but true ideologues – who then support organizations and court suits to move America to the far right and the court seems to do it. And then these ideologues turn around and gut affirmative action, block student debt relief for millions of Americans, and greenlight discrimination against the LGBTQ community.

The hypocrisy, the appearance of a conflict of interest, is sickening and Americans clearly see right through it. The American people agree that justices who sit on the highest court in the land should be held to equally high ethical standards.

So again, to repeat, I support the efforts of Chairman Durbin and the Judiciary Committee, and I will work with them to make progress on this issue.

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