On Thursday, May 14, 2026, The Guardian reported that government watchdog groups are urging the Senate Judiciary Committee to investigate Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito for potential violations of court ethics codes related to his stock ownership in oil companies. These groups allege that Alito’s participation in cases that could benefit the oil industry constitutes a conflict of interest.
In a letter addressed to the Senate Judiciary Committee, a coalition of watchdog organizations pointed to Alito as the sole Supreme Court justice with holdings in energy companies. The letter asserts that Alito’s “irregular recusal practice in oil and gas industry-related cases is undermining public confidence in the impartiality of the Court.” Signatories include green groups such as the League of Conservation Voters and the Center for Biological Diversity, as well as progressive accountability watchdogs like the Revolving Door Project and True North Research.
The controversy arises as the Supreme Court agreed in February to hear a case brought by oil majors Suncor Energy and Exxon, marking the first time the court has agreed to weigh in on such a challenge. These companies are seeking a ruling that federal law prevents subnational governments from filing lawsuits against oil and gas companies for the climate-warming effects of their products. While the court did not disclose which justices supported hearing the petition, Alito did not recuse himself.
Lisa Graves, a former senior Justice Department official and current director of True North Research, stated that “No judge on any court, including the high court, should be allowed to hear cases where he or she have a financial stake in those cases.”
In 2023, Alito had recused himself from a similar petition brought by the same companies, a request that was ultimately denied because it required approval from four judges.
Alito’s most recent financial disclosure, filed in August and covering 2024, revealed holdings in individual stock worth between $60,007 and $245,000 in ConocoPhillips, Phillips66, and five other oil and energy companies. He also has up to $100,000 invested in a Vanguard fund in which Exxon is the third-largest holding. The watchdog groups argue that these holdings alone should compel Alito to recuse himself from the Boulder case and parallel state climate deception cases.
In January, the Supreme Court clerk notified parties in a case concerning the fossil fuel industry’s responsibility for damage to the Louisiana coastline that Alito owned stock in ConocoPhillips. Alito recused himself from the suit just days before oral arguments.
Justices will be required to report on their 2026 holdings next year; by then, the court may have already ruled on the Suncor case, Graves said.
The groups also highlight Alito’s relationship with Republican billionaire donor Paul Singer, who founded the hedge fund Elliott Investment Management, which owns more than 52 million shares of Suncor, worth over $2.3 billion, as another “apparent conflict of interest.” ProPublica reported in June 2023 that Alito failed to disclose that he took a private jet ride to Alaska for a 2008 fishing trip paid for by Singer.
In 2023, the Supreme Court adopted its first-ever formal ethics code in response to pressure over scandals involving some of its senior justices. The code states that justices should recuse themselves from cases where their “impartiality might reasonably be questioned” but allows the justices to make that decision themselves. Experts have widely criticized the code as toothless due to its lack of an enforcement mechanism.
This year, the court rolled out new software to scan challengers’ filings to identify potential conflicts of interest that might require justices to recuse themselves from cases. Parties before the court must list stock-ticker symbols for companies involved in cases to allow the new software to help identify conflicts.
Source: The Guardian
