WASHINGTON (CN) — A Senate Judiciary Committee business meeting Thursday morning quickly devolved into a partisan shootout as Republicans on the upper chamber’s legal affairs panel kicked off a revolt against Democrats hoping to authorize subpoenas related to their Supreme Court ethics probe.
After weeks of delays, the Judiciary Committee was finally set Thursday to debate and vote on legal summonses for conservative billionaire Harlan Crow and legal activist Leonard Leo — who lawmakers say had improper financial relationships with Supreme Court justices.
Democrats, led by panel chair Dick Durbin, have framed the proposed subpoenas as a last-ditch effort to gain an understanding of exactly how much access these men had to the high court. Republicans, however, have argued that their colleagues’ probe is a political exercise aimed at undermining the legitimacy of the Supreme Court.
Drawing a line in the sand earlier this month, South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham — the Judiciary Committee’s ranking member — threatened a “shitshow” if Democrats went ahead with the proposed subpoena vote and warned that lawmakers had “opened up Pandora’s Box” with their effort.
During Thursday’s business meeting, Graham’s prediction became a reality.
“This is a joke,” the South Carolina Republican fumed. “This is going to fundamentally change the way the committee operates.”
Graham argued that Democrats’ would not have the votes to enforce their subpoenas on the Senate floor even if they cleared the Judiciary Committee. To back up that claim, the lawmaker pointed to a Supreme Court ethics bill the committee cleared over the summer — which Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has so far avoided bringing to the floor.
“This bill is never going to see the light of day,” Graham said. “These subpoenas are never going to see the light of day.”
Durbin, meanwhile, was unmoved in his intention to vote on the proposed subpoenas.
“As I’ve said before, I do not seek this authorization lightly,” the chairman said, arguing that the move was aimed at protecting “Congress’s authority to implement an enforceable code of conduct at the Supreme Court.”
Democrats’ insistence was not enough to sway Republicans. The Judiciary Committee’s entire GOP contingent, which had offered more than 170 amendments to the proposed subpoenas, walked out of the chamber as Durbin tried to bring the measures up for a vote.
All 11 committee Democrats, meanwhile, voted in favor of authorizing the proposed subpoenas.
Although Durbin proclaimed that the summonses had been approved by the committee, it is unclear whether Thursday’s vote will be enforceable. Judiciary Committee rules hold that nine members of the panel must be physically present to conduct business — a figure that includes two members of the minority party.
Durbin, speaking to reporters following the meeting, said he believed a quorum was present because there were a sufficient number of lawmakers in the room when Thursday’s business meeting began.
Texas Republican Ted Cruz, however, took the opposite view.
“Under the rules, the subpoena is not valid,” he told Courthouse News.
Arkansas Senator Tom Cotton agreed, telling reporters Thursday afternoon that he believed Democrats had run afoul of committee rules.
Even before lawmakers could debate the proposed subpoenas Thursday, the Judiciary Committee was marred by partisan skirmishes. Committee Republicans staged a mini-revolt as Durbin moved to vote on a group of federal court nominees without an opportunity for members to offer comments.
Although the chair defended it as precedent set by the panel’s previous GOP leadership, adding that the Judiciary Committee had already debated the nominees up for a vote, Republicans were incensed by the move. The panel quickly devolved into a cage match, with lawmakers yelling over the committee clerk who was attempting to push through a roll call vote.
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