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Today, as Justices of the U.S. Supreme Court are expected to file their financial disclosure reports, Common Cause is urging the full U.S. Senate to debate and vote on the Supreme Court Ethics, Recusal, and Transparency Act (S. 359). In a letter today to Senate leadership, Common Cause emphasized that the lack of a binding code of ethics has led to a string of scandals involving unreported gifts and expensive vacations that have undermined public faith in the nation’s highest court.

Today, the Senate Judiciary Committee voted to subpoena a wealthy donor and a high-profile legal power player at the center of recent United States Supreme Court ethics scandals. The vote came after the High Court proposed its own weak and unenforceable code of conduct earlier this month amid growing criticism.

This afternoon, the U.S. Supreme Court announced that it would adopt a code of ethics. The move follows a series of scandals involving Supreme Court Justices that came to light in recent months. The announcement also comes at a time when the Senate Judiciary Committee has already moved forward legislation to establish an ethics code for the Supreme Court and is scheduled to vote this week on subpoenas for witnesses at the heart of some of the recent scandals.

"The Senate Judiciary Committee, faced with stonewalling by those who paid for unreported luxury junkets, must get to the truth by using its subpoena power."

Common Cause is pleased to announce that two Common Cause veterans have stepped into the role of vice president at the government watchdog. Longtime Common Cause leader Kathay Feng will step into the role of Vice President for Programs and Stephen Spaulding is returning to Common Cause from his role as Policy Director of the U.S. Senate Rules Committee and will serve as Vice President for Policy & External Affairs. Together the two will help lead Common Cause’s national efforts to reduce barriers to a more representative democracy. They will also support efforts for the organization’s 30 state operations working to create a 21st Century democracy that works for everyone.

Today, Common Cause urged the House and Senate Judiciary Committees to call Justice Clarence Thomas as a witness in hearings to examine Supreme Court ethics in the wake of the latest scandal to engulf the nation’s highest court. Recent reporting by ProPublica revealed that for more than two decades Justice Thomas failed to report luxury gifts and vacations he received from billionaire Republican donor Harlan Crow.