[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 5121 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

<DOC>






119th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 5121

 To amend chapter 57 of title 28, United States Code, to provide for a 
  code of conduct for justices and judges of the courts of the United 
    States, establish an Ethics Investigations Counsel, and require 
                        disclosure of recusals.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             July 23, 2026

Mr. Murphy (for himself, Ms. Baldwin, Mr. Durbin, Mr. Hickenlooper, Ms. 
 Klobuchar, Mr. Markey, Mr. Sanders, Mrs. Shaheen, Ms. Smith, Mr. Van 
   Hollen, Mr. Wyden, Mr. Welch, Mr. Heinrich, Mr. Schiff, and Mrs. 
  Gillibrand) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
               referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend chapter 57 of title 28, United States Code, to provide for a 
  code of conduct for justices and judges of the courts of the United 
    States, establish an Ethics Investigations Counsel, and require 
                        disclosure of recusals.

    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 Act''.

SEC. 2. CODE OF CONDUCT.

    (a) In General.--Chapter 57 of title 28, United States Code, is 
amended by adding at the end the following:
``Sec. 964. Code of conduct
    ``(a) In General.--Not later than 1 year after the date of 
enactment of this section, the Judicial Conference of the United States 
shall issue a code of conduct that--
            ``(1) applies to each judge of the courts of the United 
        States; and
            ``(2) at minimum, incorporates the requirements under 
        section 455.
    ``(b) Supreme Court.--Not later than 1 year after the date of 
enactment of this section, the Supreme Court of the United States shall 
issue a code of conduct that--
            ``(1) applies to each justice of the Supreme Court; and
            ``(2) at minimum, incorporates the requirements under 
        section 455.''.
    (b) Technical and Conforming Amendment.--The table of sections for 
chapter 57 of title 28, United States Code, is amended by adding at the 
end the following:

``964. Code of conduct.''.

SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT OF ETHICS INVESTIGATIONS COUNSEL AND REPORTING 
              PROTOCOL.

    (a) In General.--Not later than 90 days after the date on which the 
Supreme Court of the United States issues a code of conduct under 
section 964(b) of title 28, United States Code, as added by section 
2(a) of this Act, the Supreme Court of the United States shall appoint 
and fix the compensation of an Ethics Investigations Counsel who shall 
adopt rules providing for the enforcement of the code of conduct, 
including a process to receive from the public information about 
potential violations of the code of conduct by justices of the Supreme 
Court.
    (b) Term.--The Ethics Investigation Counsel shall serve for a 
renewable term of 4 years.
    (c) Removal.--The Ethics Investigation Counsel may be removed for 
cause by the Supreme Court of the United States.
    (d) Process.--The process adopted under subsection (a) shall 
include the establishment of methods for the submission of the 
information described in subsection (a) in electronic form and by mail.
    (e) Investigations.--The Ethics Investigations Counsel appointed 
under this section shall conduct investigations into potential 
violations of the code of conduct issued under section 964(b) of title 
28, United States Code, as added by section 2(a) of this Act, and other 
conduct prejudicial to the ethical, effective, and expeditious 
administration of the business of the Supreme Court of the United 
States.
    (f) Assistants.--The Ethics Investigations Counsel appointed under 
this section--
            (1) may, with the approval of the Chief Justice of the 
        United States, appoint necessary assistants and fix their 
        compensation; and
            (2) may, at the discretion of the Ethics Investigations 
        Counsel, retain the services of attorneys who are not employees 
        of the Federal Government to assist in investigations conducted 
        by the Ethics Investigations Counsel.
    (g) Report.--The Ethics Investigations Counsel appointed under this 
section shall issue an annual public report describing the information 
about potential violations of the code of conduct described in 
subsection (a) and any steps taken to investigate, resolve, or 
rehabilitate the conduct described in the information.

SEC. 4. RECUSAL OF JUSTICES.

    (a) In General.--In any case in which a justice of the Supreme 
Court of the United States disqualifies himself or herself in a 
proceeding under section 455 of title 28, United States Code, the 
justice shall disclose in the public record of the proceeding the 
reasons for the disqualification.
    (b) Denial of Motion To Disqualify.--If a justice of the Supreme 
Court of the United States denies a motion brought by a party to a 
proceeding before the Court that the justice should be disqualified in 
the proceeding under section 455 of title 28, United States Code, the 
justice shall disclose in the public record of the proceeding the 
reasons for the denial of the motion.
                                 <all>