Usually, when the U.S. Supreme Court has difficult years, it’s because of controversial rulings or the departure of prominent jurists. As 2023 comes to an end, it’s fair to say the high court has struggled mightily this year for institutional reasons.
To a degree without modern precedent, the Supreme Court has confronted several tough-to-defend ethics controversies over the course of the year, most notably difficult questions surrounding Justice Clarence Thomas, many of which have been brought to the fore by reporting from ProPublica. The outlet advanced the story further with this new report:
In early January 2000, Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas was at a five-star beach resort in Sea Island, Georgia, hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt. After almost a decade on the court, Thomas had grown frustrated with his financial situation, according to friends.... At the resort, Thomas gave a speech at an off-the-record conservative conference. He found himself seated next to a Republican member of Congress on the flight home. The two men talked, and the lawmaker left the conversation worried that Thomas might resign.
According to the report, which has not been independently verified by MSNBC or NBC News, Thomas told Republican Rep. Cliff Stearns of Florida that Congress should raise the justices’ salaries. If that didn’t happen, the far-right jurist reportedly warned, “one or more justices” would retire, perhaps within the year.
The conversation, ProPublica added, “set off a flurry of activity across the judiciary and Capitol Hill.”
It’s also a conversation that probably should not have happened. Thomas’ salary at the time was $173,600 — in inflation-adjusted terms, more than $300,000. He nevertheless made no secret of his desire to make more money, and privately pushed for an end to the ban on justices giving paid speeches.
That didn’t happen, though Thomas’ allies found other ways to make him happy. From the report:
[I]n the years that followed, as ProPublica has reported, Thomas accepted a stream of gifts from friends and acquaintances that appears to be unparalleled in the modern history of the Supreme Court. Some defrayed living expenses large and small — private school tuition, vehicle batteries, tires. Other gifts from a coterie of ultrarich men supplemented his lifestyle, such as free international vacations on the private jet and superyacht of Dallas real estate billionaire Harlan Crow.
So to recap, a sitting Supreme Court justice was facing financial strains; he privately pushed a member of Congress for a higher salary; his political allies were concerned about his possible retirement; and conservative billionaires starting providing him with previously undisclosed benefits and a more luxurious lifestyle.
Over the course of 2023, congressional Republicans have scrambled to defend Thomas, presenting a series of underwhelming and substance-free justifications in response to serious ethics allegations. The challenge for GOP lawmakers just became even more difficult.