Justice Neil Gorsuch, one of the Supreme Court’s six conservative justices, has recused himself from a case set to be heard next week after some Democratic lawmakers raised objections to his connections to Philip Anschutz, an oil billionaire with an interest in the case.
A short, one-sentence letter from one of Gorsuch’s clerks was sent to attorneys arguing the case Wednesday informing them that “consistent with the Code of Conduct for Justices of the Supreme Court,” Gorsuch would no longer participate in the case. The letter offered no further explanation.
The case, Seven County Infrastructure Coalition v. Eagle County, Colorado, centers on a planned railroad that would be used to transport crude oil from eastern Utah to the country’s broader rail network. Environmental groups and Colorado’s Eagle County sued to stop the project over concerns that oil spills could harm local water supplies and ecosystems.
Anschutz, among the richest men in the country, owns oil and gas interests in the region, and his company, the Anschutz Exploration Corporation, filed an amicus brief — a legal filing made to the court by individuals or organizations interested in the outcome of the case, but not a party to it — urging the Supreme Court to limit the oversight authority of agencies that conduct environmental impact reviews.
Gorsuch and Anschutz have long-standing ties, as Georgia Rep. Hank Johnson and 12 of his Democratic colleagues noted in a letter to Gorsuch last month. The now-justice worked as an attorney for the billionaire in the early 2000s and Anschutz lobbied the George W. Bush administration to nominate Gorsuch to a federal appeals court in 2006. Gorsuch also attended numerous gatherings at Anschutz’s Colorado ranch.
“Our nation’s highest court should hold itself to the highest ethical standards. To show the American people that the Supreme Court is impartial, you must recuse yourself from any case that directly impacts the financial fortunes of Philip Anschutz,” Johnson and the other Democratic lawmakers wrote, calling Anschutz “the man who was your previous legal client, who helped raise you to the Supreme Court, and who now treats you to lavish vacations on his exclusive 60-square-mile ranch.”
In a statement Wednesday, Johnson said Gorsuch did “the right and honorable thing,” but called for “an enforceable ethics code with a mechanism for deciding ethics issues.” The Supreme Court issued an ethics code for the first time last year, but Democrats want an independent body with the authority to enforce compliance instead of relying on the justices to police themselves. Coverage of the financial relationships Gorsuch, Justice Clarence Thomas and other justices have to wealthy benefactors have drawn increased scrutiny in recent years.
“It is important that the Court show the public that it is not in the pocket of billionaire benefactors,” Johnson said. “That said, I believe we need a system that does not just rely on individual Justices to do the right thing in every case.”
Anschutz Exploration Corporation did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Thursday.
Beyond his oil and gas ventures, Anschutz is perhaps best known for owning the Los Angeles Kings hockey team and Los Angeles Galaxy soccer team. His entertainment company, AEG Worldwide, is one of the world’s largest owners of sports teams and live entertainment venues, including the Coachella music festival, Los Angeles’ Crypto.com Arena and The O2 Arena in London.