The Senate Judiciary Committee abruptly adjourned Thursday without voting on whether to authorize subpoenas for a billionaire Republican donor and a conservative judicial activist as part of the panel’s probe into Supreme Court ethics.
Members of the Senate panel were set to vote Thursday on whether to authorize subpoenas for Republican donor Harlan Crow and Leonard Leo, co-chairman of the board of directors of the Federalist Society.
But shortly after voting on two judicial nominees, Judiciary Chair Richard J. Durbin adjourned the business meeting without giving a reason — a sharp turn less than an hour after he said the committee would be voting to authorize subpoenas. The Illinois Democrat later put out a statement saying the committee was unable to complete the markup because of “scheduling issues” but showed no signs of giving up on the effort.
