Republican senators want Chief Justice John Roberts to issue a judicial code of ethics for Supreme Court justices, The Hill reported.
The news comes following reports that conservative Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas accepted luxury vacations from conservative donors.
While Democrats are pushing Supreme Court ethics reform, GOP lawmakers want Roberts to take the issue of legislation out of lawmakers' hands by issuing an updated statement of principles for the high court.
"I think it would be helpful for the court to up its game. I don't want Congress to start micromanaging the court but I think confidence-building would be had if they were more clear on some of this stuff," said Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., ranking member on the Senate Judiciary Committee, The Hill reported.
Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., also a member of the Judiciary Committee, agreed with Graham.
"I think that the nine justices need to get on the same page," Tillis said, The Hill reported. "I believe the Article III branch should address concerns amongst themselves without congressional intervention.
"I think it's a process that the justices should go through and get consensus. The chief justice can't do it on his own."
Alito on Tuesday used an opinion column in The Wall Street Journal to deny charges that he failed to list certain items on his financial disclosure, and failed to take proper steps regarding cases connected to hedge fund billionaire Paul Singer.
The judge said he did not include flying on Singer's private plane to a luxury fishing lodge in Alaska in 2008 on his financial disclosure reports because he viewed it as personal hospitality exempt from disclosure requirements.
ProPublica had reported that Alito flew on Singer's private plane, and also that the judge did not recuse himself from a 2014 case that pitted the Republic of Argentina against American creditors, including Singer.
Earlier this year, ProPublica reported that Thomas had accepted luxury trips and other perks from Republican megadonor Harlan Crow that the justice failed to include in financial disclosures.
Tillis was asked if he thinks the Supreme Court has a public perception problem.
"I do," he said, The Hill reported. "I think it's time to show progress."
Graham said that "progress" should come from the bench.
"A lot of us are really leery of micromanaging the other branch, but I think that's where the court is headed. At least that's where I hope they are," Graham told The Hill in April.
"The reason we have these [ethics] rules on our side [of government] is to make sure people feel confident, and I think that's where the court is headed."
Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, another Judiciary Committee member, said that all Americans "need to be concerned about the public confidence in the courts."
"This is something that the court itself needs to come to grips with," Cornyn said, The Hill reported. "I hope that John Roberts will do that. I understand they're still working on a review of their ethics policy."
In May, Roberts told an audience at the American Law Institute that he and his fellow justices were working to reassure the public that it adheres to "the highest standards of conduct."
Senate Judiciary Committee chair Dick Durbin, D-Ill., and Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., announced last week that they will mark up Supreme Court ethics legislation following the July 4 recess.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., told reporters that Congress needs to "stay out" of the court's business.
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