Democrats call on Thomas to recuse himself from Chevron case over Koch network ties

Fifty House Democrats on Wednesday called on Justice Clarence Thomas to recuse himself from a major upcoming Supreme Court case after a report detailed the justice’s visits to Koch network events.

ProPublica reported Friday that Thomas attended a private dinner for donors at the network’s annual summit in California in 2018 and participated in at least one other event.

In their letter, the lawmakers take aim at how attorneys linked to the Koch network are representing the plaintiffs in a major Supreme Court case this upcoming term with major impacts on the future of executive agencies’ power.

“But there is no question that your lengthy relationship with the Kochs, including your participation in donor retreats for the Koch network, requires recusal in the upcoming case that the Koch network has teed up in an attempt to overturn Chevron,” the lawmakers wrote.

The case, Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo, asks the justices to overturn the so-called Chevron deference, which for nearly four decades has given agencies wide authority to implement regulations.

Under the Chevron deference, if Congress is ambiguous or silent on an issue, courts must uphold an agency’s action if it was “based on a permissible construction of the statute.”

Overturning Chevron would take a sledgehammer to agency power and their ability to issue environment, health and other types of regulations without clearer authorization from Congress.

“Here, the Kochs — political activists that you have personally helped fundraise for and personally financially benefited from while their crusade to overturn Chevron was public and well-known — are a party to this case,” the lawmakers wrote. 

“If you do not recognize that your behavior disqualifies you from ruling on such a consequential case and you do not recuse yourself, it will do irreparable harm to the Court’s credibility and to the public’s faith in the impartial rulings of the entire federal judiciary,” they continued.

The letter, led by Rep. Dan Goldman (D-N.Y.), also included as signatories Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas) and Rep. Hank Johnson (D-Ga.), among others.

The Hill reached out to Thomas for comment through a court spokesperson.

Thomas, a member of the court’s conservative wing, years ago wrote a majority opinion expanding the Chevron deference. 

But in 2020, he changed tune, questioning the constitutionality of the doctrine and writing “it is never too late to ‘surrende[r] former views to a better considered position.’”

“Notably, even though you have a well-earned reputation for taking firm and consistent views, you have flip-flopped on this issue,” the lawmakers wrote in the letter.

ProPublica’s report is the latest in a series of investigative stories into Thomas. The stories have led to an uproar from Democrats and judicial watchdog groups, who have called for the court to adopt a binding code of ethics.

Thomas is not the only justice to come under ethics controversy, however. The woes have spanned across ideological lines, including an Associated Press report that detailed colleges’ efforts to court donors when liberal Justices Elena Kagan and Sonia Sotomayor visited their schools.