Advocacy groups are calling on justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito to step back from an upcoming Supreme Court case involving a right-leaning nonprofit backed by conservative legal activist Leonard Leo.
The nonprofit, Consumers’ Research, is set to make the case next week that the justices should bring back a long-dormant legal doctrine that stops Congress from handing off too much power to federal agencies like EPA.
According to a new report by Accountable.US, Consumers’ Research has close connections to Leo, who is co-chair of the Federalist Society. The recusal call comes as the Supreme Court has faced heightened scrutiny over reports that Thomas and other justices received gifts and trips from billionaires and conservative activists — including Leo — with business before the bench.
“The appearance of impropriety is clear in FCC v. Consumers’ Research given Leonard Leo’s long-time friendship with Justices Thomas and Alito and his financial entanglements with Consumers’ Research,” Meagan Hatcher-Mays, senior adviser for United for Democracy, which has joined the recusal call, said in a statement. “Justices Thomas and Alito must recuse themselves immediately.”
