Senate Judiciary Committee Democrats sent a letter to Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts on Thursday demanding that he force Justice Samuel Alito to recuse himself from any future cases involving efforts to regulate the high Court, citing Alito’s public defense of the Court’s independence from Congressional oversight as disqualifying. Shortly after the letter was sent, Justice Elena Kagan publicly weighed in on the debate in the other direction, defending the right of Congress to check the Supreme Court.

Justice Elena Kagan said during a public appearance Thursday that Congress can regulate aspects of the Supreme Court, a comment that comes as Democrats push a bill that would mandate a binding code of ethics for the justices.

Kagan was asked her thoughts on the issue during an appearance at the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Judicial Conference, less than a week after Justice Samuel Alito said in an interview with The Wall Street Journal’s opinion section that Congress lacked the authority to regulate the high court.

Justice Elena Kagan publicly declared her support for an ethics code for the U.S. Supreme Court but said there was no consensus among the justices on how to proceed, suggesting the high court is grappling with public concerns over its ethics practices.

“It’s not a secret for me to say that we have been discussing this issue. And it won’t be a surprise to know that the nine of us have a variety of views about this,” she said Thursday at a judicial conference in Portland, Oregon.