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- Justice Elena Kagan appeared to publicly contradict Justice Samuel Alito on congressional power.
- Alito previously suggested Congress doesn't have the power to regulate the Supreme Court.
- "We're not imperial," Kagan said of the high court during a judicial event.
Justice Elena Kagan publicly contradicted Justice Samuel Alito's controversial view that Congress does not have the power to impose greater ethical requirements on the Supreme Court, underlining how the high court has become split over the issue.
"It just can't be that the court is the only institution that somehow is not subject to checks and balances from anybody else. We're not imperial," Kagan said on Thursday evening during an event hosted by the the Ninth Circuit Judicial Conference, Politico reported.
In a sign of the deference justices typically show to their colleagues, Kagan stressed that she was not responding to Alito.
According to Politico, Kagan said it was unclear what precisely Alito may have been asked when he told the Wall Street Journal "Congress did not create the Supreme Court" and as a result lawmakers do not have the authority to regulate the nation's highest court.
"No provision in the Constitution gives them the authority to regulate the Supreme Court—period," Alito said.
Kagan, an Obama appointee, said there are clearly examples of Congress' ability to regulate the court. The liberal justice did say there were limits though, The Washington Post reported.
"Of course, Congress can regulate various aspects of what the Supreme Court does," she said. "Congress funds the Supreme Court. Congress historically has made changes to the court's structure and composition. Congress has made changes to the court's appellate jurisdiction."
Alito, a George W. Bush appointee, went so far as to concede that his opinion "is a controversial view." He appeared to imply that other justices shared his view.
The conservative justice's comments set off a firestorm among congressional Democrats who are trying to pass stronger ethical requirements for the justices in the wake of multiple reports that raised questions about impropriety. Senate Republicans have made clear they don't support such an effort, making it extremely unlikely any new laws are passed anytime soon.
On Thursday, nearly every Senate Democrat on the powerful Judiciary Committee wrote to Chief Justice John Roberts that Alito must recuse himself from an upcoming tax case due to the fact that one of the people who interviewed him for the Journal is an attorney connected to the case.
Justice Clarence Thomas' relationship with GOP megadonor Harlan Crow has been the largest focus, but Alito's decision to accept a private trip from billionaire Paul Singer has also raised eyebrows. Alito took the unusual step of issuing a pre-publication denial of ProPublica's reporting to the Journal.
CNN previously reported that Roberts has been unable to get unanimous agreement from his colleagues on stronger ethics standards. Kagan said it wasn't surprising they couldn't agree.
"It's not a secret for me to say, we've been discussing this issue, and it won't be a surprise to know that the nine of us have a variety of views about this — and about most things," Kagan said, drawing laughter, according to The Post. "We're nine freethinking individuals."