Kagan, Coney Barrett break on whether high court needs independent ethics code panel

House Kagan, Coney Barrett break on whether high court needs independent ethics code panel by Ashleigh Fields - 07/14/26 1:35 PM ET Link copied by Ashleigh Fields - 07/14/26 1:35 PM ET Link copied

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Supreme Court Justices Elena Kagan and Amy Coney Barrett shared differing views on Tuesday regarding a potential independent enforcement mechanism to ensure they and their colleagues are upholding the court’s ethics code.

The panel’s ranking member, Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) asked Kagan if she still supported the idea, floated a couple of years ago, of independent enforcement of the code.

Kagan responded that she would welcome independent enforcement from a well-respected panel of federal judges, while Barrett hedged.

“I think that we would be better off with an enforcement mechanism, and I think, you know, that’s not to say I think that my colleagues aren’t taking this code incredibly seriously,” Kagan, an Obama appointee, said during a testimony before the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government.

“We’re all, you know, making every effort, and I think successful efforts to live by it. But if nothing else, for public confidence, right?” she added. “An enforcement mechanism can also make clear that not every accusation, every charge, has anything to it.”

She acknowledged there would be complexities on how the judiciary would pull it together.

Barrett, a Trump appointee, said she was “less certain.”

“I mean, I’m certainly fully committed to the code, as are all of our colleagues, but because of some of the complexities that Justice Kagan identified, I’m just not quite sure,” she told lawmakers.

She questioned who would select the judges tasked with overseeing the independent enforcement and other details regarding the panel, while noting any efforts should come from within the judiciary branch.

DeLauro noted Congress and the federal judiciary, except the Supreme Court, had such a mechanism.

The U.S. Supreme Court adopted its first formal Code of Conduct in November of 2023. It outlines five core canons requiring justices to uphold judicial integrity, avoid impropriety, disqualify themselves from conflicted cases, manage extrajudicial activities and refrain from partisan political activity.

Supreme Court justices take two oaths of office before they can begin their duties: the Constitutional Oath, which is required of all federal officials, and the Judicial Oath, which is mandated by the Judiciary Act of 1789.

“We’re all under real fire these days, and that includes the court. I think we have to demonstrate at every turn that we are understanding that of the the kind of morality that we need to have, and that we need to demonstrate to the public about how important we take the roles that we have, and that we’re not somehow abridging the system or abusing the system,” Barrett told lawmakers.