Warren, Lawmakers Slam Judicial Conference’s Leniency on Conflicts of Interest
Federal Judge in Lawsuit over CFPB Credit Card Fee Rule Holds Stock in Credit Card Issuer
“No reasonable observer can deny that Judge Willett has a financial interest that could be substantially affected by the outcome of the CFPB case….We are troubled that the Judicial Conference has blessed the participation of a federal appellate judge with a significant conflict of interest in a case that affects the financial security of Americans.”
Washington D.C. – Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), and Representatives Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), Katie Porter (D-Calif.), and Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) sent a letter to the Judicial Conference (“the Conference”) expressing profound concern with a Fifth Circuit judge’s participation in a case challenging a landmark Consumer Financial Credit Bureau (CFPB) credit card rule while holding stock in Citigroup, the card issuer projected to be impacted most by the regulation.
The case, Chamber of Commerce v. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, is currently pending before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, and involves a lawsuit by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s (“the Chamber”) and allied Wall Street trade associations, including Citigroup, who seek to block a new rule by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) that would protect consumers by limiting late fees charged by credit card companies.
One of the judges on the Fifth Circuit panel, Judge Don Willet, holds stock in Citigroup, a major credit card issuer and an influential member of the trade groups that filed the lawsuit. Additionally, Citigroup is projected to be hit hardest by the CFPB rule the Chamber’s suit aims to block, with analysts indicating the rule would reduce the company’s earnings per share by 6.4%.
“Judge Willet’s financial interest in Citigroup meets the standards for mandatory recusal,” wrote the lawmakers. “No reasonable observer can deny that Judge Willett has a financial interest that could be substantially affected by the outcome of the CFPB case. Federal ethics law and judicial ethics guidance ought to bar him from adjudicating this case.”
The letter describes how the Conference’s Committee on Codes of Conduct incorrectly applied the ethics requirements set by federal statute and by the Conference’s own guidance, how this failure indicates a need for stronger federal judicial ethics laws, and how the Judicial Conference must address conflicts of interests created by judicial stock ownership.
“Judge Willet has refused to recuse himself from the case despite this clear conflict of interest,” wrote the lawmakers. “To make matters worse, the Judicial Conference’s Committee on Codes of Conduct, in an April 16, 2024 letter to Judge Willett, all but gave its blessing to this ethically troubling decision.”
In fact, the Committee seemed to encourage Judge Willet to adjudicate the case, suggesting that recusal could “needlessly delay() the judicial process” and “create the appearance of a biased tribunal.”
“Federal ethics law and judicial ethics guidance require Judge Willett to recuse himself here,” continued the lawmakers. “To the extent they do not in the Committee’s view, revisions of those laws and guidance are urgently needed.”
The lawmakers then advocated for Congress to swiftly pass the Judicial Ethics and Anti-Corruption Act, called on the Judicial Conference to reform its guidance on the conflicts of interest raised by judicial stock ownership, and warned that the Judicial Conference blessing Judge Willett’s participation in the case despite his significant conflict of interest threatens the integrity of the justice system.
“While Congress should act swiftly to pass this legislation, the Judicial Conference should also reform its guidance on the conflicts of interest raised by judicial stock ownership, including by requiring judges to divest individual stock holdings,” the senators concluded.
Senator Warren is a national leader in the fight against corruption and for ethics in the federal judiciary.
- In June 2023, Senator Warren, Representative Jayapal, and colleagues reintroduced the bicameral Judicial Ethics and Anti-Corruption Act, legislation to strengthen our nation’s judicial ethics laws, impose an enforceable code of conduct on the Supreme Court, and ban federal judges from owning individual stock.
- In May 2022, Senator Warren, Representative Jayapal, and colleagues introduced the bicameral Judicial Ethics and Anti-Corruption Act to overhaul the nation’s judicial ethics laws and restore public faith in the court system.
- After revelations of Ginni Thomas’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election, Senator Warren and Representative Jayapal led 22 colleagues in a bicameral letter demanding an explanation from Justice Clarence Thomas on his failure to recuse from key Supreme Court decisions, seeking future recusals by Justice Thomas, and urging Chief Justice John Roberts to adopt a voluntary code of conduct for the Supreme Court
- In December 2021, Senator Warren published an op-ed in the Boston Globe calling for the Supreme Court to be expanded by four or more seats to protect America’s democracy and restore faith in an independent judiciary committed to the rule of law.
- In October 2021, Senator Warren and Rep. Jayapal sent a letter to Chief Justice John Roberts regarding a Wall Street Journal report that over 131 federal judges violated federal law and ethics guidelines by overseeing cases involving companies in which they or their family members owned individual stock.
- Senator Warren and Representative Jayapal first introduced the Anti-Corruption and Public Integrity Act in 2018. This bicameral legislation was the most ambitious anti-corruption legislation since Watergate.
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