Page:Roberts Letter to Durbin.pdf/1



Honorable Richard J. Durbin Chair Committee on the Judiciary United States Senate Washington, DC 20510

Dear Mr. Chairman:

Thank you for your letter of April 20, 2023, inviting me to appear at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on May 2. I must respectfully decline your invitation.

Testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee by the Chief Justice of the United States is exceedingly rare, as one might expect in light of separation of powers concerns and the importance of preserving judicial independence. The Supreme Court Library compilation of “Justices Testifying Before Congress in Matters Other Than Appropriations or Nominations” has identified only two prior instances – Chief Justice Taft in 1921 and Chief Justice Hughes in 1935. Both hearings involved routine matters of judicial administration relating to additional judgeships in the lower courts and jurisdiction over appeals from lower court injunctions. My predecessor, Chief Justice Rehnquist, appeared before House committees twice, also on mundane topics. In his first appearance, in 1989, before the House Committee on Post Office and Civil Service, he offered views on improvements to the federal civil service system. In 2004, he discussed the John Marshall Commemorative Coin Act at a hearing of the House Financial Services Committee. Neither Chief Justice Burger nor Chief Justice Warren nor Chief Justice Vinson ever appeared before a Congressional committee, though Chief Justice Warren did submit a prepared statement on federal employee salary increases to the Senate Post Office and Civil Service Committee in 1964. Congressional testimony from the head of the Executive Branch is likewise infrequent. According to the United States Senate website, no President has ever testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee, and only three Presidents (in 1862, 1919, and 1974) have testified before any Congressional committee.

In regard to the Court’s approach to ethics matters, I attach a Statement of Ethics Principles and Practices to which all of the current Members of the Supreme Court subscribe.

Senator Lindsey Graham, Ranking Member