This is flat-out corruption. Clarence Thomas sold his vote to corporate polluters.

Hi,

For decades, Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas and his family have gotten millions of dollars in secret payments, luxury vacations, and sweetheart real estate deals from Republican billionaires and lobbyists.

Now it's clear what Clarence Thomas's secret funders got in exchange for all that money: they bought Thomas's vote in one of the most important cases in the Supreme Court's next term, which could result in a dramatic rollback of nearly every environmental and public-health protection currently on the books.1

Enough is enough. This is flat-out corruption. We've mobilized more than 200,000 people to contact Congress, demanding that the entire Supreme Court be held to a code of ethics. In the wake of these stunning revelations about Thomas, we need to turn up the heat to demand action.

Will you make a donation to Demand Progress Action to support our work, including holding Clarence Thomas to account and pushing Congress to adopt a Supreme Court code of ethics?

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At issue is a legal principle known as "Chevron deference," which allows federal agencies like the FDA and EPA to set rules and regulations based on scientific evidence under laws like the Clean Air Act and Safe Drinking Water Act.

For 30 years on the bench, Thomas supported this legal doctrine, even writing one of the most important recent opinions upholding it. But in 2020, Thomas reversed his position – and earlier this month, the Supreme Court announced that they are taking up a case that could overturn Chevron deference and open the door for massive rollbacks of environmental, public health, consumer, and workplace safety protections.2

Corporations have wanted the Supreme Court to overturn the doctrine of Chevron deference for years, because if federal agencies aren't allowed to promulgate rules based on scientific evidence, then every single environmental protection, public health regulation, and worker safety standard will be on the chopping block.

Instead of depending on science to form these rules, Congress would have to vote individually on every single scientific standard set by the federal government, from which drugs to approve to the level of arsenic allowed in drinking water.

Thomas's defenders say that the millions Clarence Thomas has received from right-wing billionaires and lobbyists are just friendly generosity and have had no impact on his rulings.3

Nonsense. Corporate polluters bought his vote. And now that the Supreme Court has agreed to take up a case revisiting this key legal principle. Every environmental and public health protection is in jeopardy.

This wouldn't be happening if corporations were stopped from buying Thomas's vote. That's why we're calling on Congress to investigate Clarence Thomas and adopt a binding code of ethics for the Supreme Court.

Will you donate $10 today to support Demand Progress Action's work, including holding Justice Clarence Thomas and others on the Supreme Court to account?

With gratitude for all that you do,

Tihi and the team at Demand Progress Action

Sources:
1. The Lever, "Clarence Thomas Reversed Position After Gifts And Family Payments," May 9, 2023.
2. SCOTUS Blog, "Supreme Court will consider major case on power of federal regulatory agencies," May 1, 2023.
3. The Wall Street Journal, "The Smearing of Clarence Thomas," April 7, 2023.

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