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Chief Justice John Roberts has long aimed to stay above the political fray, but his goal is being put to the test as Democrats vow to intervene in the Supreme Court’s recent ethics controversies. 

Roberts’s refusal to appear before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday left Democrats pulling no punches as they asserted that the justices cannot be trusted to police their own ethics. 

Republicans, meanwhile, portrayed the push as an attempt to smear Justice Clarence Thomas and the court’s other conservatives.

Even as the prospect of ethics legislation remains shaky in the divided Congress, the debacle has left Roberts, 68, grappling with how to remain neutral amid the partisan warfare and cratering public confidence in the high court.

Roberts’s absence came with little surprise. He has strived to insulate the court’s image from partisan politics since becoming chief justice in 2005, and Tuesday’s hearing consisted of outraged Democrats, on camera, delving into ProPublica’s investigation into luxury trips Thomas accepted from billionaire and GOP megadonor Harlan Crow. 

The chief justice had cited separation of powers concerns in declining Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Dick Durbin’s (D-Ill.) invitation, calling it an “exceedingly rare” offer.

“I’m more troubled by the suggestion that testifying to this Committee would somehow infringe on the separation of powers or threaten judicial independence,” Durbin said on Tuesday. “In fact, answering legitimate questions from the people’s elected representatives is one of the checks and balances that helps preserve the separation of powers.”

It follows a pattern of the decorum-conscious Roberts attempting to stay out of the partisan fighting on Capitol Hill. Even on ordinary topics, like the court’s budget, Roberts has left it to his colleagues to testify.

“One thing we have to do every year is get money from Congress, just like every other federal entity. And so we send a couple of justices to Congress, explain what we need, and they get it. Now, I knew that there are people on the court who are better at that than I am, so they go. I don’t go,” Roberts told Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute students in 2017.

After the 2010 State of the Union Address, when then-President Obama denounced the Supreme Court’s Citizens United v. FEC ruling on campaign finance with the justices sitting feet away, the mild-mannered Roberts issued an unusual critique.

Speaking to law students weeks later, Roberts questioned why the justices participate in what he said had “degenerated into a political pep rally.” Roberts has attended every address since, while Justice Samuel Alito, who mouthed the words “not true” in an infamous moment after Obama’s snipe, never returned.

“Some people I think have an obligation to criticize what we do, given their office, if they think we’ve done something wrong, so I have no problems with that,” Roberts told the students.

“On the other hand, as you said, there is the issue of the setting, the circumstances and the decorum,” he continued. “The image of having the members of one branch of government standing up literally surrounding the Supreme Court cheering and hollering — while the court, according to the requirements of protocol, has to sit there expressionless — I think is very troubling.”

Years later, Roberts was back in the Capitol at the center of a bitter political battle: presiding over the impeachment trial of then-President Trump.

He emerged unscathed and earned bipartisan praise, but not without some testy moments. As the prospect rose of an even split on the crucial issue of whether to allow witnesses, Roberts announced he would not step in to break a tie.

“I think it would be inappropriate for me, an unelected official from a different branch of government, to assert the power to change that result so that the motion would succeed,” Roberts told senators.

Roberts has since avoided potentially going through the wringer on Capitol Hill. He declined to preside over Trump’s second impeachment trial, and on Tuesday, he dodged appearing before outraged Democrats. But that didn’t stop them from lambasting Roberts and the high court.

“What Chief Justice Roberts has done in refusing to come before this committee is judicial malpractice. It is a disservice to the courts,” said Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.).

Roberts did not return a request for comment through a spokesperson.

Republicans spent much of the hearing condemning what they view as a double standard, portraying the effort as an attempt to derail the conservative-majority court. 

They condemned Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer’s (D-N.Y.) warning last year that two conservative justices would “pay the price” if they voted against abortion rights, protests outside conservative justices’ homes and the financial dealings of the court’s liberals.

“We’re going to push back as hard as we can and tell the American people the truth about what’s going on. This is not about making the court better. This is about destroying a conservative court. It will not work,” said Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), the committee’s ranking member.

Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) had this take: “Today’s hearing is an excuse to slay more mud at an institution.” 

One Republican senator, Lisa Murkowski (Alaska), has joined Democrats’ calls, but the odds for passing any ethics legislation remain slim in the GOP-controlled House.

“It’s very difficult to do anything in a divided Senate, especially when the committee of jurisdiction is equally divided. I think Roberts is using that to his advantage and just taking the easy way out, because he knows there’s no real way to compel anything beyond that,” Gabe Roth, executive director of judicial watchdog group Fix the Court, said in an interview ahead of the hearing.

It wouldn’t be Democrats’ first failed attempt. Roughly a decade ago, Roberts rebuffed their calls to formally adopt the code of conduct in place for lower federal judges. He said the justices leverage it as a starting point, characterizing criticisms that the court is exempt from ethical principles “misconceptions.” Trump will not testify at E. Jean Carroll civil trial Hundreds of Democrats urge appeals court to reverse abortion pill ruling

Roberts added, “In particular, Congress has directed Justices and judges to comply with both financial reporting requirements and limitations on the receipt of gifts and outside earned income. The Court has never addressed whether Congress may impose those requirements on the Supreme Court.”

As the chief justice strives for an insular approach, he faces more than just angry lawmakers. Public confidence has declined sharply in the court, spurred by the court’s recent decision to overturn Roe v. Wade.

An NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist poll last month recorded that only 37 percent of Americans have a great deal or quite a lot of confidence in the court, the lowest measure recorded since the pollster began asking the question in 2018.

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Politics

Can Streeting stop the doctors strikes?

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Can Streeting stop the doctors strikes?

👉Listen to Politics at Sam and Anne’s on your podcast app👈 

After yesterday’s royal welcome from the King, French President Emmanuel Macron will get down to business today, meeting Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer for lunch, after PMQs.

But, as Sky News’ Sam Coates and Politico’s Anne McElvoy discuss on this episode, away from the pomp, Sir Keir’s in-tray doesn’t look any less challenging.

It includes a headache for Health Secretary Wes Streeting as resident doctors, formerly known as junior doctors, announce a new strike – and there is as a punchy warning from the OBR on making financial promises to the public.

Also today, the welfare bill returns to the House of Commons, with reports of another rebellion brewing.

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World

Why do so many from around the world try to cross the English Channel?

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Why do so many from around the world try to cross the English Channel?

While the politicians talk, so many people come from around the world to try to get across the Channel on small boats. But why?

Why make such a perilous crossing to try to get to a country that seems to be getting increasingly hostile to asylum seekers?

As the British and French leaders meet, with small boats at the forefront of their agenda, we came to northern France to get some answers.

It is not a new question, but it is peppered with fresh relevance.

Over the course of a morning spent around a migrant camp in Dunkirk, we meet migrants from Gaza, Iraq, Eritrea, South Sudan, Sri Lanka and beyond.

Some are fearful, waving us away; some are happy to talk. Very few are comfortable to be filmed.

All but one man – who says he’s come to the wrong place and actually wants to claim asylum in Paris – are intent on reaching Britain.

They see the calm seas, feel the light winds – perfect conditions for small boat crossings.

John has come here from South Sudan. He tells me he’s now 18 years old. He left his war-torn home nation just before his 16th birthday. He feels that reaching Britain is his destiny.

“England is my dream country,” he says. “It has been my dream since I was at school. It’s the country that colonised us and when I get there, I will feel like I am home.

“In England, they can give me an opportunity to succeed or to do whatever I need to do in my life. I feel like I am an English child, who was born in Africa.”

John, a migrant from South Sudan, speaks to Sky News Adam Parsons
Image:
‘England is my dream country,’ John tells Adam Parsons

He says he would like to make a career in England, either as a journalist or in human resources, and, like many others we meet, is at pains to insist he will work hard.

The boat crossing is waved away as little more than an inconvenience – a trifle compared with the previous hardships of his journey towards Britain.

We meet a group of men who have all travelled from Gaza, intent on starting new lives in Britain and then bringing their families over to join them.

One man, who left Gaza two years ago, tells me that his son has since been shot in the leg “but there is no hospital for him to go to”.

Next to him, a man called Abdullah says he entered Europe through Greece and stayed there for months on end, but was told the Greek authorities would never allow him to bring over his family.

Britain, he thinks, will be more accommodating. “Gaza is being destroyed – we need help,” he says.

Abdullah, a migrant from Gaza, speaking to Sky's Adam Parsons
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Abdullah says ‘Gaza is being destroyed – we need help’

A man from Eritrea tells us he is escaping a failing country and has friends in Britain – he plans to become a bicycle courier in either London or Manchester.

He can’t stay in France, he says, because he doesn’t speak French. The English language is presented as a huge draw for many of the people we talk to, just as it had been during similar conversations over the course of many years.

I ask many of these people why they don’t want to stay in France, or another safe European country.

Some repeat that they cannot speak the language and feel ostracised. Another says that he tried, and failed, to get a residency permit in both France and Belgium.

But this is also, clearly, a flawed survey. Last year, five times as many people sought asylum in France as in Britain.

And French critics have long insisted that Britain, a country without a European-style ID card system, makes itself attractive to migrants who can “disappear”.

Read more:
Channel crossings rise 50% in first six months of 2025
French police forced to watch on as migrants attempt crossing

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Migrant Channel crossings hit new record

A young man from Iraq, with absolutely perfect English, comes for a chat. He oozes confidence and a certain amount of mischief.

It has taken him only seven days to get from Iraq to Dunkirk; when I ask how he has made the trip so quickly, he shrugs. “Money talks”.

He looks around him. “Let me tell you – all of these people you see around you will be getting to Britain and the first job they get will be in the black market, so they won’t be paying any tax.

“Back in the day in Britain, they used to welcome immigrants very well, but these days I don’t think they want to, because there’s too many of them coming by boat. Every day it’s about seven or 800 people. That’s too many people.”

“But,” I ask, “if those people are a problem – then what makes you different? Aren’t you a problem too?”

He shakes his head emphatically. “I know that I’m a very good guy. And I won’t be a problem. I’ll only stay in Britain for a few years and then I’ll leave again.”

A young man from Iraq walks away from Sky's Adam Parsons

A man from Sri Lanka says he “will feel safe” when he gets to Britain; a tall, smiling man from Ethiopia echoes the sentiment: “We are not safe in our home country so we have come all this way,” he says. “We want to work, to be part of Britain.”

Emmanuel is another from South Sudan – thoughtful and eloquent. He left his country five years ago – “at the start of COVID” – and has not seen his children in all that time. His aim is to start a new life in Britain, and then to bring his family to join him.

He is a trained electrical engineer, but says he could also work as a lorry driver. He is adamant that Britain has a responsibility to the people of its former colony.

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“The British came to my country – colonising, killing, raping,” he said. “And we didn’t complain. We let it happen.

“I am not the problem. I won’t fight anyone; I want to work. And if I break the laws – if any immigrant breaks the laws – then fine, deport them.

“I know it won’t be easy – some people won’t like me, some people will. But England is my dream.”

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Science

Axiom 4 Mission Crew Settles Down at ISS, Begins Conducting Research

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Axiom 4 Mission Crew Settles Down at ISS, Begins Conducting Research

Axiom 4 mission’s crewmates began conducting biomedical research aboard the International Space Station on Tuesday. Expedition 73 and Ax-4 crews found electrical muscle stimulation and cellular immunity. The Cargo transfers and exercise gear maintenance take a day for orbital residents.

Takuya Onishi, Situation Commander from JAXA( Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency), has begun the shift in continuation of his space biology studies. His blood and saliva samples are being collected for storage and processing. Further, he spun the specimens in a centrifuge and placed the blood samples in the freezer. After that, he stowed the samples in the incubator.

JAXA’s Takuya Onishi Leads Cellular Immunity Study with Blood and Saliva Analysis

According to a report from NASA, the samples will be analysed to determine the effect of microgravity on cellular immunity, observe stress-related immune reactions, and learn about how to treat symptoms of immunity. The flight engineers Johnny Kim, Anne McClain, and Nichole Ayers spent their day on orbital lab maintenance and further support activities of the crew. Kim focused mainly on orbital plumbing as he replaced and drained the Tranquillity module.

Ayers checked cables and power components in the Destiny laboratory module and deactivated and placed the microscope. McClain took the cognition test on the laptop and kept on supporting the Ax-4 crew at a time of a busy schedule.

Ax-4 Crew Explores Muscle Stimulation and Space Suit Fabric Efficiency in Microgravity

Veteran astronaut Peggy Whitson and her Ax-4 crewmates Shubhanshu Shukla, Tibor Kapu and UznaÅ„ski-WiÅ›niewski conducted numerous space investigations throughout the lab. The private scientists in their second full week on the station found out that the electrical muscle simulation escalates the space-related and muscle atrophy in space. Ax-4’s other experiments looked at suit fabrics promote thermal comfort with exercising the weightlessness, crew health and agriculture in space.

Sergey Ryzhikov and Alexey Zubritskiy worked together on the Zvezda service module, repairing and organising components on a treadmill, one of the two inside the space station, which included the COLBERT treadmill. Kirill Peskov started his day by going through the biological samples from the crewmates. At the end of his shift, he transfers water from Progress 92 cargo craft and unloads the stuffs of hardware and crew supplies.

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