WASHINGTON Senate Democrats have been demanding congressional action in response to last months bombshell report about Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas failing to disclose hundreds of thousands of dollars in luxury gifts from a GOP megadonor.

Theyre holding a Tuesday hearing to examine Supreme Court ethics reforms. They asked Chief Justice John Roberts to testify (he declined), so now theyre pressing him to come up with a formal code of conduct for the court. If he wont do it, Democrats have a bill that will .

Thats a stark contrast to Republicans, who have almost unanimously retreated into silence or scoffed at the idea that Congress should do anything to serve as a check on justices behavior. Theres only one GOP senator backing any ethics reforms to the court: Lisa Murkowski of Alaska introduced a bill with Sen. Angus King (I-Maine) that would require the justices to create a code of conduct for themselves and make it public on the courts website. In other words, the bare minimum.

HuffPost asked GOP senators late last week what they think of Murkowskis proposal and, more broadly, why they dont think the Supreme Court is way overdue for ethics reforms.

The question isnt just pertinent because Thomas has been accepting luxury trips almost every year for more than 20 years from billionaire Harlan Crow and not disclosing them. Or because Thomas sold his ancestral home to that billionaire and didnt disclose it. Or because that billionaire has had financial interests before the court the entire time. Or because Neil Gorsuch failed to disclose that he sold property for more than $1 million to the chief executive of a law firm that routinely has business before the court.

Or because of all the trips that Supreme Court justices appointed by presidents in both parties take all over the world that have been paid for by private entities who may have business before the court and may have influence over those justices in related cases.

Its because every federal judge in the country has been governed by a written code of conduct since 1973. Except the nine justices on the nations highest court. Theyve never had one.

Some Republicans didnt seem aware of that last part.

They do, said Sen. Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.), when asked if she thinks the justices should have a formal code of conduct. Well, not a code. They have what we have, right? They have a setup where they disclose and have parameters around disclosure?

They do that now, said Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), the former chairman of the Judiciary Committee, when asked about the idea of justices creating an ethics code for themselves. They just did it on March 7. What more would you do?

Grassley was referring to a subcommittee of the Judicial Conference, which sets policy for federal courts, last month tightening gift disclosure rules for federal judges, including Supreme Court justices. The new rules require them to disclose gifts and free trips, or when gifts are being reimbursed by a third party who is not the person giving the gift.

They dont cover gifts of overnight stays at friends vacation homes, though, which was one of the many perks Thomas got from Crow.