Washington (CNN) -- The Supreme Court has rejected congressional calls for the justices to adhere officially to the same ethics rules binding on other federal judges, including when to recuse in cases involving possible conflicts of interest. "The Court does not plan to adopt the Code of Conduct for United States Judges through a formal resolution," Chief Justice John Roberts wrote in a letter released Tuesday to Senate Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vermont. But Roberts said he and his eight colleagues would -- on their own initiative -- continue to follow the same rules as other judges when it comes to accepting and reporting on outside income, honoraria, and gifts.
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Supreme Court justices will continue to follow same rules as other judges, says Roberts
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He says the court will release an internal, informal 1991 resolution
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It's strictly up to justices to decide whether they should recuse themselves
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Various groups want two justices to recuse themselves from the health care reform case
Roberts in his year-end report in December said he had "complete confidence" in his @placeholder colleagues to fairly decide whether to remove themselves from hot-button cases such as health care reform