Unlike Justice Thomas, Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. did not disclose any travel or hospitality in his 2022 public disclosure. He came under scrutiny in ProPublica’s reporting this year about a trip he took with billionaire Paul Singer. Justice Alito has said he was not required to disclose details of the vacation.
The disclosure comes as Senate Democrats on the Judiciary Committee passed legislation aimed at imposing a code of ethics on the high court. Unlike lower courts, the justices do not have a mandatory ethics code they follow. In a party-line vote in July, Senate Democrats pushed legislation through the Judiciary Committee that would require the court to develop a code of ethics and a system to police the justices’ adherence. The justices would be prodded to better explain their decisions on whether to recuse themselves from hearing certain cases.
Other reports by ProPublica, The Washington Post and The New York Times questioned arrangements such as generous salaries for Republican-appointed justices to teach at George Mason University’s Antonin Scalia School of Law. He said all justices must file disclosures for review by the Judicial Conference Committee on Financial Disclosure and follow lower court policies on recusals. He noted that the system is flexible, given the composition of the high court.