The Democrat-led House of Judiciary recently announced plans to issue subpoenas to wealthy benefactors of Supreme Court justices. According to the announcement, these subpoenas are intended to investigate whether or not the justice’s decisions have been influenced in any way by wealthy donors or special interests.
The focus of this investigation is to get the bottom of if wealthy individuals or organizations have had any kind of influence on past decisions or are attempting to affect upcoming decisions of the Supreme Court. The legality of this plan is being questioned by some, as many believe it’s a violation of separation of powers.
The current investigation into these benefactors is somewhat controversial, as it implies that decisions made by the Supreme Court are in some way influenced by money. Democrats leading the investigation remain solid in their stance, citing the need for transparency and accountability in the Supreme Court’s decisions, rather than attempting to delegitimize the power of the Supreme Court.
The subpoenas were made public earlier this week and focus mainly on three major organizations, the Federalist Society, the Heritage Foundation, and the Judicial Crisis Network. These organizations are all known to support conservative judges and were the subject of a Senate investigation in 2018. Though the investigation of the Senate wasn’t conclusive, the current probe by the House Judiciary seeks to gain deeper insight into if these organizations are in any way influencing decisions of the Supreme Court.
The subpoenas are expected to bring out the names of wealthy donors. These people could then be questioned to determine if they have used their influence in the decisions of the Supreme Court in the past or if they intend to in the future.
The Democrats leading the investigation are hoping this will help to improve transparency and accountability in the Supreme Court, mitigating any conflict of interest. For now, this is all speculation, and the outcome of the investigation is yet to be seen. However, it is certain, that this will ignite even more controversy in the upcoming days.