[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 8609 Introduced in House (IH)]

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118th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 8609

To amend title 28, United States Code, to establish an Office of Ethics 
Counsel and an Office of Investigative Counsel within the Supreme Court 
                         of the United States.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              June 4, 2024

   Mr. Goldman of New York (for himself, Mr. Nadler, Mr. Johnson of 
 Georgia, Ms. Sherrill, Mr. Schiff, Mr. Ivey, Ms. Garcia of Texas, Mr. 
Krishnamoorthi, Mr. Cohen, Ms. Norton, Ms. McCollum, Mrs. Ramirez, Mr. 
   Landsman, Mr. Blumenauer, Mr. Tonko, Ms. Schakowsky, Mrs. Watson 
Coleman, Mr. Connolly, Mr. Grijalva, Ms. Jackson Lee, Mr. Quigley, Ms. 
 Brownley, Mr. Gottheimer, Ms. Bonamici, and Ms. Plaskett) introduced 
    the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the 
                               Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend title 28, United States Code, to establish an Office of Ethics 
Counsel and an Office of Investigative Counsel within the Supreme Court 
                         of the United States.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Supreme Court Ethics and 
Investigations Act''.

SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT OF THE OFFICE OF ETHICS COUNSEL WITHIN THE 
              SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES.

    (a) In General.--Chapter 45 of title 28, United States Code, is 
amended by adding at the end the following:
``Sec. 678. Office of Ethics Counsel
    ``(a) The Office of Ethics Counsel.--The Chief Justice is 
authorized to establish an Office of Ethics Counsel within the Supreme 
Court of the United States--
            ``(1) constituted by one chief ethics counsel who may 
        employ such officers and employees, subject to the provisions 
        of title 5, governing appointments in the competitive service, 
        and the provisions of chapter 51 and subchapter III of chapter 
        53 of such title relating to classification and General 
        Schedule pay rates; and
            ``(2) to advise and provide guidance to justices of the 
        Supreme Court, and their spouses, on matters of judicial 
        ethics, including--
                    ``(A) financial disclosure requirements;
                    ``(B) the acceptance of gifts;
                    ``(C) political activity;
                    ``(D) conflicts of interest and recusal; and
                    ``(E) the unauthorized disclosure of official Court 
                documents.
    ``(b) Ethics Counsels.--
            ``(1) Staffing and compensation of counsels.--
                    ``(A) Chief ethics counsel.--The chief ethics 
                counsel within the Office of Ethics Counsel--
                            ``(i) may not be employed by the Court on 
                        the date of enactment of this section;
                            ``(ii) shall be appointed by the Chief 
                        Justice;
                            ``(iii) shall serve not more than two 6-
                        year terms; and
                            ``(iv) shall receive an annual rate of pay 
                        of at least $225,000.
                    ``(B) Other counsels.--Any counsel other than the 
                chief ethics counsel within the Office of Ethics 
                Counsel--
                            ``(i) may not be employed by the Court on 
                        the date of enactment of this section;
                            ``(ii) shall be appointed by the chief 
                        ethics counsel;
                            ``(iii) shall serve not more than two 6-
                        year terms; and
                            ``(iv) shall receive an annual rate of pay 
                        of at least $180,000.
            ``(2) Qualifications.--Each counsel of the Office of Ethics 
        Counsel shall--
                    ``(A) be licensed to practice law in a State or 
                territory of the United States and a member of the bar 
                in good standing; and
                    ``(B) possess at least 5 years of experience as a 
                practicing attorney.
            ``(3) Expertise.--Each counsel shall be an individual of 
        exceptional public standing who is specifically qualified to 
        serve within the Office of Ethics Counsel by virtue of the 
        individual's education, training, and experience, as determined 
        by the Chief Justice.
            ``(4) Termination of counsels.--The employment of a counsel 
        may only be terminated by the Chief Justice for cause.
    ``(c) Training.--On a biannual basis, the Office of Ethics Counsel 
shall provide, and each justice shall take, a training course on the 
judicial ethics matters described in subsection (a)(2).
    ``(d) Report.--On an annual basis, the chief ethics counsel shall 
submit to the Committees on the Judiciary of the House of 
Representatives and of the Senate a report on the ethics advice given 
by the Office of Ethics Counsel during the previous year, including--
            ``(1) the number of times advice was sought and given;
            ``(2) whether the advice was sought by judicial officers or 
        by judicial employees;
            ``(3) information about the topics covered by the advice 
        given, including the number of questions related to gifts, 
        financial disclosures, nonpublic information, and political 
        activity;
            ``(4) the number and types of mitigation measures that were 
        recommended, including recusal, divestiture, resignation;
            ``(5) the number of times advice described in this 
        subsection was not followed by the individual to whom it was 
        given, if known by the Office.
    ``(e) Definitions.--In this section:
            ``(1) The term `gift' means any gratuity, favor, discount, 
        entertainment, hospitality, loan, forbearance, or other item 
        having monetary value. The term includes services as well as 
        gifts of training, transportation, local travel, lodgings and 
        meals, whether provided in-kind, by purchase of a ticket, 
        payment in advance, or reimbursement after the expense has been 
        incurred.
            ``(2) The term `political activity' means political 
        engagements, such as paid speaking events, fundraisers, or 
        donations to political parties, politicians, political action 
        groups, or endorsements of political candidates.''.
    (b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of contents of chapter 45 of 
title 28, United States Code, is amended by inserting after the item 
relating to section 678 the following:

``678. Office of Ethics Counsel.''.

SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT OF THE OFFICE OF INVESTIGATIVE COUNSEL WITHIN THE 
              SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES.

    (a) In General.--Chapter 45 of title 28, United States Code, as 
amended by this Act, is further amended by adding at the end the 
following:
``Sec. 679. Office of Investigative Counsel
    ``(a) Office of Investigative Counsel.--The Chief Justice is 
authorized to establish an Office of Investigative Counsel within the 
Supreme Court of the United States--
            ``(1) constituted by one Chief Investigative Counsel and at 
        least two additional investigative counsels; and
            ``(2) to review and investigate ethics complaints against 
        justices arising from their actions or the actions of their 
        spouses and dependents.
    ``(b) Investigative Counsels.--
            ``(1) Staffing and compensation of counsels.--
                    ``(A) Chief investigative counsel.--The Chief 
                Investigative Counsel--
                            ``(i) may not be employed by the court on 
                        the date of enactment of this section;
                            ``(ii) shall be appointed by the Chief 
                        Justice;
                            ``(iii) shall serve not more than one 6-
                        year term; and
                            ``(iv) shall receive an annual rate of pay 
                        of at least $225,000.
                    ``(B) Additional investigative counsels.--The 
                investigative counsels--
                            ``(i) may not be employed by the court on 
                        the date of enactment of this section;
                            ``(ii) shall be appointed by the Chief 
                        Investigative Counsel;
                            ``(iii) shall serve at the pleasure of the 
                        Chief Investigative Counsel; and
                            ``(iv) shall receive an annual rate of pay 
                        of at least $180,000.
                    ``(C) Qualifications.--Each investigative counsel 
                of the Office of Investigative Counsel shall--
                            ``(i) be licensed to practice law in a 
                        State or territory of the United States and a 
                        member of the bar in good standing; and
                            ``(ii) possess at least 7 years of 
                        experience as a practicing attorney.
                    ``(D) Expertise.--Each investigative counsel and 
                the Chief Investigative Counsel shall be an individual 
                of exceptional public standing who is specifically 
                qualified to serve within the Office of Investigative 
                Counsel by virtue of the individual's education, 
                training, and experience.
                    ``(E) Termination of counsels.--The employment of 
                the Chief Investigative Counsel may only be terminated 
                by the Chief Justice for cause.
            ``(2) Subpoena power.--
                    ``(A) In general.--For the discharge of their 
                duties, the Chief Investigative Counsel shall have the 
                authority to issue subpoenas to compel witnesses to 
                appear and testify and to produce books, papers, 
                correspondence, memoranda, documents, or other relevant 
                records. The Chief Investigative Counsel may issue 
                subpoenas requiring the attendance and testimony of 
                witnesses and the production of any evidence relating 
                to any matter under investigation by the Office of 
                Investigative Counsel, which the Office is empowered to 
                investigate by this section. The attendance of 
                witnesses and the production of evidence may be 
                required from any place within the United States at any 
                designated place of hearing within the United States.
                    ``(B) Failure to obey a subpoena.--If a person 
                refuses to obey a subpoena issued under subparagraph 
                (A), the Chief Investigative Counsel may apply to a 
                United States district court for an order requiring 
                that person to appear before the Office of 
                Investigative Counsel to give testimony, produce 
                evidence, or both, relating to the matter under 
                investigation. The application may be made within the 
                judicial district where the hearing is conducted or 
                where that person is found, resides, or transacts 
                business. Any failure to obey the order of the court 
                shall be punishable by contempt of court.
                    ``(C) Service of subpoenas.--The subpoenas of the 
                Office of Investigative Counsel shall be served in the 
                manner provided for subpoenas issued by a United States 
                district court under the Federal Rules of Civil 
                Procedure for the United States district courts.
                    ``(D) Service of process.--All process of any court 
                to which application is made under subparagraph (B) may 
                be served in the judicial district in which the person 
                required to be served resides or may be found.
    ``(c) Ethics Complaints.--
            ``(1) Filing.--An ethics complaint against a justice may be 
        filed with the Office of Investigate Counsel by--
                    ``(A) the chair or ranking minority member of the 
                Committee on the Judiciary of the House of 
                Representatives or of the Senate;
                    ``(B) the Majority Leader or Minority Leader of the 
                Senate; or
                    ``(C) the Speaker or the Minority Leader of the 
                House of Representatives.
            ``(2) Review.--Not later than 60 days after an ethics 
        complaint is filed under paragraph (1), the Office of 
        Investigative Counsel shall review the complaint and determine 
        whether a full investigation is appropriate. In making a 
        determination under this paragraph, the Office shall consider 
        whether the alleged behavior of a justice violates the Code of 
        Conduct of the Supreme Court, the Judicial Code of Conduct, or 
        any applicable law or regulation. Upon making a determination 
        under this paragraph, the chief counsel shall respond to each 
        ethics complaint filed under paragraph (1), regardless of 
        whether the Office of Investigative Counsel determines that an 
        investigation is appropriate.
            ``(3) Investigation.--If the Office determines that a full 
        investigation is appropriate, it shall open the investigation 
        not later than 15 days after making such determination.
            ``(4) Reporting.--
                    ``(A) In general.--The Office of Investigative 
                Counsel shall submit to the Chief Justice a report 
                containing its findings and recommendations about an 
                ethics complaint filed under paragraph (2) (including 
                in the case of a complaint with respect to which the 
                Office determines that no violation has occurred), 
                except that in the case of an ethics complaint with 
                respect to which the Chief Justice is the subject, the 
                Office shall deliver such report to the most senior 
                associate justice.
                    ``(B) Contents.--A report under subparagraph (A) 
                shall include--
                            ``(i) each violation of the Code of Conduct 
                        for the Supreme Court committed by the justice 
                        who was the subject of the investigation under 
                        paragraph (3), including any such violation 
                        that arose as a result of the actions of a 
                        spouse or dependant of the justice; and
                            ``(ii) substantive and actionable 
                        recommendations from the Office of 
                        Investigative Counsel including recusal, 
                        divestment and neutralization conflicts of 
                        interest, and other remedies.
                    ``(C) Publication.--
                            ``(i) Chief justice.--The Chief Justice 
                        may, in his sole discretion, release to the 
                        public a report received under subparagraph 
                        (A), but may not alter such a report in any 
                        way, except to redact any classified or 
                        personally identifiable information. In the 
                        case of an ethics complaint with respect to 
                        which the Chief Justice is the subject, the 
                        most senior associate justice is authorized to 
                        carry out this clause.
                            ``(ii) Availability to congress.--Not later 
                        than 10 days after completing a report under 
                        subparagraph (A), the Office of Investigative 
                        Counsel shall make the report available to--
                                    ``(I) the Committees on the 
                                Judiciary of the House of 
                                Representatives and of the Senate;
                                    ``(II) the Committee on Oversight 
                                and Accountability of the House of 
                                Representatives; and
                                    ``(III) the Committee on Homeland 
                                Security and Governmental Affairs of 
                                the Senate.
                            ``(iii) Duty to inform the attorney 
                        general.--In carrying out the duties of the 
                        Office, the Investigative Counsel shall report 
                        expeditiously to the Attorney General whenever 
                        the Investigative Counsel has reasonable 
                        grounds to believe there has been a violation 
                        of Federal criminal law.''.
    (b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of contents of chapter 45 of 
title 28, United States Code, is amended by inserting after the item 
relating to section 678, as added by section 2, the following:

``679. Office of Investigative Counsel.''.

SEC. 4. SEVERABILITY.

    If any provision of this Act, or any application of such provision 
to any person or circumstance, is held to be unconstitutional, the 
remainder of this Act and the application of this Act to any other 
person or circumstance shall not be affected.
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