Two Supreme Court Justices Testified Before the Senate. Their Differing Views on Ethics Reform Were Telling.

Jurisprudence

July 15, 20263:52 PM

One branch visits another.

Photo illustration by Slate. Photos by Kent Nishimura/AFP via Getty Images and Eric Lee/Getty Images.

On Tuesday, Justices Elena Kagan and Amy Coney Barrett testified before Congress, seeking a $14 million budget increase for security measures to protect the justices and their families. Congress should take the opportunity to do something more than just boost the court’s budget: It should create a robust inspection office to oversee the millions of dollars’ worth of gifts the justices receive each year, assess the justices’ recusal responsibilities, and address other ethics issues. Doing so would relieve the court of diverting its other resources to these ethics matters or, worse, undervaluing them altogether. It would also make the justices safer in the long run from a public increasingly dissatisfied with their arbitrary secrecy.