Supreme Court Associate Justice Samuel Alito on Friday asserted that Congress lacks the authority to regulate the top bench amid a push from Senate Democrats to force the court to reform its handling of ethics issues following critical reporting on some of the justices’ disclosures or lack thereof.

“I know this is a controversial view, but I’m willing to say it… No provision in the Constitution gives them the authority to regulate the Supreme Court—period,” he told the Wall Street Journal in an interview.

His comments follow efforts from the Senate Judiciary Committee to require that the court draft a code of conduct and create a process by which the public may submit complaints against its members over ethics issues.