II 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4167 

To amend title 28, United States Code, to provide an Inspector General 

for the judicial branch, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

APRIL 18, 2024 

Mr. BLUMENTHAL (for himself, Mr. MERKLEY, Ms. HIRONO, Mr. WELCH, Mr. 

WYDEN, Mr. WHITEHOUSE, and Mr. BOOKER) introduced the following 

bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To amend title 28, United States Code, to provide an Inspector General for the judicial branch, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Judicial Ethics En5 forcement Act of 2024’’. 

6 SEC. 2. INSPECTOR GENERAL FOR THE JUDICIAL BRANCH. 

7 (a) ESTABLISHMENT AND DUTIES.—Part III of title 

8 28, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end 

9 the following: 


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1 ‘‘CHAPTER 60—INSPECTOR GENERAL FOR 

2 THE JUDICIAL BRANCH 

‘‘Sec. 

‘‘1021. Establishment. 

‘‘1022. Appointment, term, and removal of Inspector General. 

‘‘1023. Duties. 

‘‘1024. Powers. 

‘‘1025. Reports. 

‘‘1026. Whistleblower protection. 

3 ‘‘§ 1021. Establishment 

4 ‘‘There is established for the judicial branch of the 

5 Government the Office of Inspector General for the Judi6 cial Branch (in this chapter referred to as the ‘Office’). 

7 ‘‘§ 1022. Appointment, term, and removal of Inspector 

8 General 

9 ‘‘(a) APPOINTMENT.—The head of the Office shall be 

10 the Inspector General, who shall be appointed by the Chief 

11 Justice of the United States after consultation with the 

12 majority and minority leaders of the Senate and the 

13 Speaker and minority leader of the House of Representa14 tives. 

15 ‘‘(b) TERM.—The Inspector General shall serve for 

16 a term of 4 years and may be reappointed by the Chief 

17 Justice of the United States for any number of additional 

18 terms. 

19 ‘‘(c) REMOVAL.—The Inspector General may be re20 moved from office by the Chief Justice of the United 

21 States. The Chief Justice shall communicate the reasons 

22 for any such removal to both Houses of Congress. 


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1 ‘‘§ 1023. Duties 

2 ‘‘With respect to the judicial branch, the Office 

3 shall— 

4 ‘‘(1) conduct investigations of alleged mis5 conduct in the judicial branch (other than the 

6 United States Supreme Court) under chapter 16 

7 that may require oversight or other action within the 

8 judicial branch or by Congress; 

9 ‘‘(2) conduct investigations of alleged violations 

10 of the Code of Conduct for Justices of the Supreme 

11 Court of the United States or any other alleged mis12 conduct in the United States Supreme Court that 

13 may require oversight or other action within the ju14 dicial branch or by Congress; 

15 ‘‘(3) conduct and supervise audits and inves16 tigations; 

17 ‘‘(4) prevent and detect waste, fraud, and 

18 abuse; and 

19 ‘‘(5) recommend changes in laws or regulations 

20 governing the judicial branch. 

21 ‘‘§ 1024. Powers 

22 ‘‘(a) POWERS.—In carrying out the duties of the Of23 fice, the Inspector General shall have the power to— 

24 ‘‘(1) make investigations and reports; 

25 ‘‘(2) obtain information or assistance from any 

26 Federal, State, or local governmental agency, or 


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1 other entity, or unit thereof, including all informa2 tion kept in the course of business by the Judicial 

3 Conference of the United States, the judicial coun4 cils of circuits, the Administrative Office of the 

5 United States Courts, and the United States Sen6 tencing Commission; 

7 ‘‘(3) require, by subpoena or otherwise, the at8 tendance and testimony of such witnesses, and the 

9 production of such books, records, correspondence, 

10 memoranda, papers, and documents, which sub11 poena, in the case of contumacy or refusal to obey, 

12 shall be enforceable by civil action; 

13 ‘‘(4) administer to or take from any person an 

14 oath, affirmation, or affidavit; 

15 ‘‘(5) employ such officers and employees, sub16 ject to the provisions of title 5, governing appoint17 ments in the competitive service, and the provisions 

18 of chapter 51 and subchapter III of chapter 53 of 

19 such title relating to classification and General 

20 Schedule pay rates; 

21 ‘‘(6) obtain services as authorized by section 

22 3109 of title 5 at daily rates not to exceed the equiv23 alent rate for a position at level IV of the Executive 

24 Schedule under section 5315 of such title; and 


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1 ‘‘(7) the extent and in such amounts as may be 

2 provided in advance by appropriations Acts, to enter 

3 into contracts and other arrangements for audits, 

4 studies, analyses, and other services with public 

5 agencies and with private persons, and to make such 

6 payments as may be necessary to carry out the du7 ties of the Office. 

8 ‘‘(b) CHAPTER 16 MATTERS.—The Inspector General 

9 shall not commence an investigation under section 

10 1023(1) until the denial of a petition for review by the 

11 judicial council of the circuit under section 352(c) of this 

12 title or upon referral or certification to the Judicial Con13 ference of the United States of any matter under section 

14 354(b) of this title. 

15 ‘‘(c) LIMITATION.—The Inspector General shall not 

16 have the authority to— 

17 ‘‘(1) investigate or review any matter that is di18 rectly related to the merits of a decision or proce19 dural ruling by any judge, justice, or court; or 

20 ‘‘(2) punish or discipline any judge, justice, or 

21 court. 

22 ‘‘§ 1025. Reports 

23 ‘‘(a) WHEN TO BE MADE.—The Inspector General 

24 shall— 


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1 ‘‘(1) make an annual report to the Chief Jus2 tice and to Congress relating to the activities of the 

3 Office; and 

4 ‘‘(2) make prompt reports to the Chief Justice 

5 and to Congress on matters that may require action 

6 by the Chief Justice or Congress. 

7 ‘‘(b) SENSITIVE MATTER.—If a report contains sen8 sitive matter, the Inspector General may so indicate and 

9 Congress may receive that report in closed session. 

10 ‘‘(c) DUTY TO INFORM ATTORNEY GENERAL.—In 

11 carrying out the duties of the Office, the Inspector General 

12 shall report expeditiously to the Attorney General when13 ever the Inspector General has reasonable grounds to be14 lieve there has been a violation of Federal criminal law. 

15 ‘‘§ 1026. Whistleblower protection 

16 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—No officer, employee, agent, con17 tractor, or subcontractor in the judicial branch may dis18 charge, demote, threaten, suspend, harass, or in any other 

19 manner discriminate against an employee in the terms and 

20 conditions of employment because of any lawful act done 

21 by the employee to provide information, cause information 

22 to be provided, or otherwise assist in an investigation re23 garding any possible violation of Federal law or regulation, 

24 or misconduct, by a judge, justice, or any other employee 


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1 in the judicial branch, which may assist the Inspector Gen2 eral in the performance of duties under this chapter. 

3 ‘‘(b) CIVIL ACTION.—An employee injured by a viola4 tion of subsection (a) may, in a civil action, obtain appro5 priate relief.’’. 

6 (b) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENT.— 

7 The table of chapters for part III of title 28, United States 

8 Code, is amended by adding at the end the following: 

‘‘60. Inspector General for the judicial branch ...................................... 1021’’. 

Æ 


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