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April 20 (UPI) -- The chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday asked Chief Supreme Court Justice John Roberts to testify about the court's ethics rules in the wake of revelations regarding Justice Clarence Thomas. The invitation by Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., comes as lawmakers wrestle with the idea of adopting an ethics reform bill following reports that Justice Clarence Thomas secretly accepted lavish luxury trips from a wealthy Republican donor.
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Durbin asked that Roberts or another justice chosen by him testify to the committee on May 2. Questioning may be limited to the ethics rules the Supreme Court is to adhere to and potential reforms.
Durbin notes that the court has not addressed ethical issues since its 2011 year-end report.
"Since then, there has been a steady stream of revelations regarding justices falling short of the ethical standards expected of other federal judges and, indeed, of public servants generally," Durbin writes.
"These problems were already apparent back in 2011, and the court's decade-long failure to address them has contributed to a crisis of public confidence. The status quo is no longer tenable."
The committee has not heard testimony from sitting justices since 2011.
ProPublica broke the news earlier this month that Thomas and his wife have gone on multiple expensive trips with Dallas real estate billionaire and Republican political donor Harlan Crow allegedly footing the bill. They reportedly used Crow's personal jet, boarded his super yacht, and went to luxury retreats repeatedly over more than 20 years.
The revelation not only created a crisis of public confidence, as Durbin said. It has also forced lawmakers on both sides of the aisle to consider whether Supreme Court justices are being held to a high enough standard of ethics.
In a statement on Tuesday, Durbin made clear that he does not believe the court's rules are stringent enough.
"The highest court in America should not have the lowest standards when it comes to ethics. But for too long that has been the case with the United States Supreme Court," Durbin said. "Judges have a responsibility to put service to others ahead of their own personal self-interest, but the conduct revealed in ProPublica's reporting tells a much different story... The Supreme Court needs to clean up its act and fast."
Following the report, the Senate Judiciary Committee urged Roberts to investigate Thomas. The committee wrote that it plans to use its jurisdiction over federal courts to restore confidence in the court system, but asked Roberts not to wait to make a change.
"You have a role to play as well, both in investigating how such conduct could take place at the Court under your watch, and in ensuring that such conduct does not happen again," a statement from the committee said.
Many in the Republican party have been hesitant to agree that Congress should get involved in setting new ethical standards for the Supreme Court.
Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska said she supports a proposal for a reform bill that is being pitched in the Senate by Sen. Angus King, I-Maine, calling for the court to adopt a judicial code of conduct.
"I see no reason not to be able to support this other than are Republicans worried that we don't want to embarrass the conservative members of the court. We need to be worried about the credibility of the court right now. If I were Chief Justice Roberts, I would have been working on this the minute this news broke,"
