Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts has refused a meeting with the Senate Judiciary Committee after Sens. Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) said they wanted to discuss ethics rules on the court following a week of controversy spurred by Justice Samuel Alito. Roberts cited the “separation of powers concerns and the importance of preserving judicial independence” in his refusal letter. Durbin and Whitehouse called Alito’s actions “an appearance of impropriety” which have added to what the pair called “the Supreme Court ethics crisis,” according to NBC News. After two flags co-opted by Capitol rioters were flown outside Alito’s two homes, he refused to recuse himself from cases involving former President Donald Trump and the Jan. 6 insurrection. Roberts similarly declined to meet with lawmakers last year regarding revelations around Justice Clarence Thomas’s alleged violations of the ethics code.