II 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 359 

To amend title 28, United States Code, to provide for a code of conduct 

for justices of the Supreme Court of the United States, and for other 

purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

FEBRUARY 9, 2023 

Mr. WHITEHOUSE (for himself, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, Mr. MERKLEY, Mr. BOOKER, Mrs. GILLIBRAND, Mr. REED, Mrs. FEINSTEIN, Mr. WARNER, Mr. 

SANDERS, Mr. MARKEY, Mr. DURBIN, and Ms. HIRONO) 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 for a 

code of conduct for justices of the Supreme Court of 

the United States, 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 ‘‘Supreme Court Ethics, 

5 Recusal, and Transparency Act of 2023’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. CODE OF CONDUCT FOR THE SUPREME COURT OF 

2 THE UNITED STATES. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 16 of title 28, United 

4 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol5 lowing: 

6 ‘‘§ 365. Codes of conduct 

7 ‘‘(a) JUSTICES.—Not later than 180 days after the 

8 date of enactment of this section, the Supreme Court of 

9 the United States shall, after appropriate public notice 

10 and opportunity for comment in accordance with section 

11 2071, issue a code of conduct for the justices of the Su12 preme Court. 

13 ‘‘(b) OTHER JUDGES.—Not later than 180 days after 

14 the date of enactment of this section, the Judicial Con15 ference of the United States shall, after appropriate public 

16 notice and opportunity for comment in accordance with 

17 section 2071, issue a code of conduct for the judges of 

18 the courts of appeals, the district courts (including bank19 ruptcy judges and magistrate judges), and the Court of 

20 International Trade. 

21 ‘‘(c) MODIFICATION.—The Supreme Court of the 

22 United States and the Judicial Conference may modify the 

23 applicable codes of conduct under this section after giving 

24 appropriate public notice and opportunity for comment in 

25 accordance with section 2071. 


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1 ‘‘§ 366. Public access to ethics rules 

2 ‘‘The Supreme Court of the United States shall make 

3 available on its internet website, in a full-text, searchable, 

4 sortable, and downloadable format, copies of the code of 

5 conduct issued under section 365(a), any rules established 

6 by the Counselor to the Chief Justice under section 677 

7 and any other related rules or resolutions, as determined 

8 by the Chief Justice of the United States, issued by the 

9 Counselor to the Chief Justice of the United States or 

10 agreed to by the justices of the Supreme Court. 

11 ‘‘§ 367. Complaints against justices 

12 ‘‘(a) RECEIPT OF COMPLAINTS.—Not later than 180 

13 days after the date of enactment of this section, the Su14 preme Court of the United States shall establish proce15 dures, modeled after the procedures set forth in sections 

16 351 through 364, under which individuals may file with 

17 the Court, or the Court may identify, complaints alleging 

18 that a justice of the Supreme Court— 

19 ‘‘(1) has violated— 

20 ‘‘(A) the code of conduct issued pursuant 

21 to section 365(a); 

22 ‘‘(B) section 455; or 

23 ‘‘(C) any other applicable provision of Fed24 eral law; or 


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1 ‘‘(2) has otherwise engaged in conduct that un2 dermines the integrity of the Supreme Court of the 

3 United States. 

4 ‘‘(b) JUDICIAL INVESTIGATION PANEL.— 

5 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Upon receipt or identifica6 tion of a complaint under subsection (a), the Su7 preme Court of the United States shall refer such 

8 complaint to a judicial investigation panel, which 

9 shall be composed of a panel of 5 judges selected 

10 randomly from among the chief judge of each circuit 

11 of the United States. 

12 ‘‘(2) DUTIES.—The judicial investigation panel 

13 shall— 

14 ‘‘(A) review and, if appropriate as deter15 mined by the panel, investigate all complaints 

16 submitted to the panel using procedures estab17 lished by the panel and modeled after the proce18 dures set forth in sections 351 through 364; 

19 ‘‘(B) present to the Supreme Court of the 

20 United States any findings and recommenda21 tions for necessary and appropriate action by 

22 the Supreme Court, including dismissal of the 

23 complaint, disciplinary actions, or changes to 

24 Supreme Court rules or procedures; 


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1 ‘‘(C) if the panel does not recommend dis2 missal of the complaint, not later than 30 days 

3 following the presentation of any findings and 

4 recommendations under this paragraph, publish 

5 a report containing such findings and rec6 ommendations; and 

7 ‘‘(D) if the panel recommends dismissal of 

8 the complaint, the panel may publish any find9 ings and recommendations if the panel deter10 mines that such publication would be in fur11 therance of the public interest. 

12 ‘‘(3) POWERS.—In conducting any investigation 

13 under this section, the judicial investigation panel 

14 may hold hearings, take sworn testimony, issue sub15 poenas ad testificandum and subpoenas duces 

16 tecum, and make necessary and appropriate orders 

17 in the exercise of its authority. 

18 ‘‘(4) ACCESS.—If the judicial investigation 

19 panel determines that a substantially similar com20 plaint was previously submitted under section 351, 

21 but that such substantially similar complaint was 

22 dismissed for lack of authority to review or act upon 

23 such complaint, the panel shall have access to any 

24 information gathered pursuant to this chapter in re25 lation to such substantially similar complaint. 


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1 ‘‘(5) COMPENSATION.—The judicial investiga2 tion panel may appoint and fix the compensation of 

3 such staff as it deems necessary.’’. 

4 (b) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENT.— 

5 The table of sections for chapter 16 of title 28, United 

6 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol7 lowing: 

‘‘365. Codes of conduct. 

‘‘366. Public access to ethics rules. 

‘‘367. Complaints against justices.’’. 

8 SEC. 3. MINIMUM GIFT, TRAVEL, AND INCOME DISCLOSURE 

9 STANDARDS FOR JUSTICES OF THE SUPREME 

10 COURT. 

11 Section 677 of title 28, United States Code, is 

12 amended by adding at the end the following: 

13 ‘‘(d) The Counselor, with the approval of the Chief 

14 Justice, shall establish rules governing the disclosure of 

15 all gifts, income, or reimbursements, as those terms are 

16 defined in section 13101 of title 5, received by any justice 

17 and any law clerk to a justice. Such rules shall, at min18 imum, require disclosure of any information concerning 

19 gifts, income, and reimbursements required to be disclosed 

20 under the Standing Rules of the Senate and the Rules of 

21 the House of Representatives.’’. 


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1 SEC. 4. CIRCUMSTANCES REQUIRING DISQUALIFICATION. 

2 (a) ANTICORRUPTION PROTECTIONS.—Subsection 

3 (b) of section 455 of title 28, United States Code, is 

4 amended by adding at the end the following: 

5 ‘‘(6) Where the justice or judge knows that a 

6 party to the proceeding or an affiliate of a party to 

7 the proceeding made any lobbying contact, as de8 fined in section 3 of the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 

9 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1602), or spent substantial funds in 

10 support of the nomination, confirmation, or appoint11 ment of the justice or judge. 

12 ‘‘(7) Where the justice or judge, their spouse, 

13 minor child, or a privately held entity owned by any 

14 such person received income, a gift, or reimburse15 ment, as those terms are defined in section 13101 

16 of title 5— 

17 ‘‘(A) from a party to the proceeding or an 

18 affiliate of a party to the proceeding; and 

19 ‘‘(B) during the period beginning on the 

20 date that is 6 years before the date on which 

21 the justice or judge was assigned to the pro22 ceeding and ending on the date of final disposi23 tion of the proceeding.’’. 

24 (b) DUTY TO KNOW.—Subsection (c) of section 455 

25 of title 28, United States Code, is amended to read as 

26 follows: 


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1 ‘‘(c) A justice, judge, magistrate judge, or bankruptcy 

2 judge of the United States shall ascertain— 

3 ‘‘(1) the personal and fiduciary financial inter4 ests of the justice or judge; 

5 ‘‘(2) the personal financial interests of the 

6 spouse and minor children residing in the household 

7 of the justice or judge; and 

8 ‘‘(3) any interest of the persons described in 

9 paragraph (2) that could be substantially affected by 

10 the outcome of the proceeding.’’. 

11 (c) DIVESTMENT.—Subsection (f) of section 455 of 

12 title 28, United States Code, is amended by inserting 

13 ‘‘under subsection (b)(4)’’ after ‘‘disqualified’’. 

14 (d) DUTY TO NOTIFY.—Section 455 of title 28, 

15 United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the 

16 following: 

17 ‘‘(g) If at any time a justice, judge, magistrate judge, 

18 or bankruptcy judge of the United States learns of a con19 dition that could reasonably require disqualification under 

20 this section, the justice or judge shall immediately notify 

21 all parties to the proceeding.’’. 

22 (e) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 

23 Section 455 of title 28, United States Code, as amended 

24 by this section, is amended— 


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1 (1) in the section heading, by striking ‘‘judge, 

2 or magistrate judge’’ and inserting ‘‘judge, 

3 magistrate judge, or bankruptcy judge’’; 

4 (2) in subsection (a), by striking ‘‘judge, or 

5 magistrate judge’’ and inserting ‘‘judge, magistrate 

6 judge, or bankruptcy judge’’; 

7 (3) in subsection (b)— 

8 (A) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘the 

9 judge or such lawyer’’ and inserting ‘‘the jus10 tice, the judge, or such lawyer’’; 

11 (B) in paragraph (5)(iii), by inserting 

12 ‘‘justice or’’ before ‘‘judge’’; and 

13 (C) in paragraph (5)(iv), by inserting ‘‘jus14 tice’s or’’ before ‘‘judge’s’’; 

15 (4) in subsection (c), by inserting ‘‘justice or’’ 

16 before ‘‘judge’’; 

17 (5) in subsection (d)(4)(i), by inserting ‘‘justice 

18 or’’ before ‘‘judge’’; and 

19 (6) in subsection (e), by striking ‘‘judge, or 

20 magistrate judge’’ and inserting ‘‘judge, magistrate 

21 judge, or bankruptcy judge of the United States’’. 

22 (f) PUBLIC NOTICE.—The rules of each court subject 

23 to section 455 of title 28, United States Code, as amended 

24 by this section, shall be amended to require that the clerk 

25 shall publish timely notice on the website of the court of— 


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1 (1) any matter in which a justice, judge, mag2 istrate judge, or bankruptcy judge of the United 

3 States is disqualified under such section; 

4 (2) any matter in which the reviewing panel 

5 under section 1660 of title 28, United States Code, 

6 rules on a motion to disqualify; and 

7 (3) an explanation of each reason for the dis8 qualification or ruling, which shall include a specific 

9 identification of each circumstance that resulted in 

10 such disqualification or ruling, but which shall not 

11 include any private or sensitive information deemed 

12 by a majority of the reviewing panel under section 

13 1660 of title 28, United States Code, as added by 

14 section 5 of this Act, to be appropriate for redaction 

15 and unnecessary in order to provide the litigants and 

16 public a full understanding of the reasons for the 

17 disqualification or ruling. 

18 SEC. 5. REVIEW OF CERTIFIED DISQUALIFICATION MO19 TIONS. 

20 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 111 of title 28, United 

21 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol22 lowing: 

23 ‘‘§ 1660. Review of certified motions to disqualify 

24 ‘‘(a) MOTION FOR DISQUALIFICATION.—If a justice, 

25 judge, magistrate judge, or bankruptcy judge of the 


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1 United States is required to be disqualified from a pro2 ceeding under any provision of Federal law, a party to 

3 the proceeding may file a timely motion for disqualifica4 tion, accompanied by a certificate of good faith and an 

5 affidavit alleging facts sufficient to show that disqualifica6 tion of the justice, judge, magistrate judge, or bankruptcy 

7 judge is so required. 

8 ‘‘(b) CONSIDERATION OF MOTION.—A justice, judge, 

9 magistrate judge, or bankruptcy judge of the United 

10 States shall either grant or certify to a reviewing panel 

11 a timely motion filed pursuant to subsection (a) and stay 

12 the proceeding until a final determination is made with 

13 respect to the motion. 

14 ‘‘(c) REVIEWING PANEL.— 

15 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A reviewing panel to which 

16 a motion is certified under subsection (b) shall be 

17 composed of 3 judges selected at random from 

18 judges of the United States who do not sit on the 

19 same court— 

20 ‘‘(A) as the judge, magistrate judge, or 

21 bankruptcy judge who is the subject of the mo22 tion; or 

23 ‘‘(B) as the other members of the review24 ing panel. 


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1 ‘‘(2) CIRCUIT LIMITATION.—Not more than 1 

2 member of the reviewing panel may be a judge of 

3 the same judicial circuit as the judge, magistrate 

4 judge, or bankruptcy judge who is the subject of the 

5 motion. 

6 ‘‘(3) PARTICIPATION.—The reviewing panel, 

7 prior to its final determination with respect to a mo8 tion filed under subsection (a), shall provide the 

9 judge, magistrate judge, or bankruptcy judge of the 

10 United States who is the subject of such motion an 

11 opportunity to provide in writing the views of the 

12 judge on the motion, including the explanation of 

13 the judge for not granting the motion. 

14 ‘‘(d) SUPREME COURT REVIEW.—The Supreme 

15 Court of the United States, not including the justice who 

16 is the subject of a motion seeking to disqualify a justice 

17 under subsection (a), shall be the reviewing panel for such 

18 motions.’’. 

19 (b) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENT.— 

20 The table of sections for chapter 111 of title 28, United 

21 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol22 lowing: 

‘‘1660. Review of certified motions to disqualify.’’. 

23 SEC. 6. DISCLOSURE BY PARTIES AND AMICI. 

24 Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment 

25 of this Act, the Supreme Court of the United States shall 


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1 prescribe rules of procedure in accordance with sections 

2 2072 through 2074 of title 28, United States Code, requir3 ing each party or amicus to list in the petition or brief 

4 of the party or amicus, as applicable, a description and 

5 value of— 

6 (1) any gift, income, or reimbursement, as 

7 those terms are defined in section 13101 of title 5, 

8 United States Code, provided to any justice, during 

9 the period beginning 2 years prior to the commence10 ment of the proceeding and ending on the date of 

11 final disposition of the proceeding, by— 

12 (A) each such party, amicus, or affiliate of 

13 each such party or amicus; 

14 (B) the lawyers or law firms in the pro15 ceeding of each such party or amicus; and 

16 (C) the officers, directors, or employees of 

17 each such party or amicus; and 

18 (2) any lobbying contact or expenditure of sub19 stantial funds by any person described in subpara20 graphs (A), (B), and (C) of paragraph (1) in sup21 port of the nomination, confirmation, or appoint22 ment of a justice. 


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1 SEC. 7. AMICUS DISCLOSURE. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 111 of title 28, United 

3 States Code, as amended by section 5, is amended by add4 ing at the end the following: 

5 ‘‘§ 1661. Disclosures related to amicus activities 

6 ‘‘(a) DISCLOSURE.— 

7 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Any person that files an 

8 amicus brief in a court of the United States shall 

9 list in the amicus brief the name of any person 

10 who— 

11 ‘‘(A) contributed to the preparation or sub12 mission of the amicus brief; 

13 ‘‘(B) contributed not less than 3 percent of 

14 the gross annual revenue of the amicus, or an 

15 affiliate of the amicus, for the previous calendar 

16 year if the amicus is not an individual; or 

17 ‘‘(C) contributed more than $100,000 to 

18 the amicus, or an affiliate of the amicus, in the 

19 previous calendar year. 

20 ‘‘(2) EXCEPTIONS.—The requirements of this 

21 subsection shall not apply to amounts received in 

22 commercial transactions in the ordinary course of 

23 any trade or business by the amicus, or an affiliate 

24 of the amicus, or in the form of investments (other 

25 than investments by the principal shareholder in a 

26 limited liability corporation) in an organization if the 


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1 amounts are unrelated to the amicus filing activities 

2 of the amicus. 

3 ‘‘(b) AUDIT.—The Director of the Administrative Of4 fice of the United States Courts shall conduct an annual 

5 audit to ensure compliance with this section.’’. 

6 (b) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENT.— 

7 The table of sections for chapter 111 of title 28, United 

8 States Code, as amended by section 5, is amended by add9 ing at the end the following: 

‘‘1661. Disclosures related to amicus activities.’’. 

10 SEC. 8. CONFLICTS RELATED TO AMICI CURIAE. 

11 (a) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in subsection 

12 (b), the Supreme Court of the United States and the Judi13 cial Conference of the United States shall prescribe rules 

14 of procedure in accordance with sections 2072 through 

15 2074 of title 28, United States Code, for prohibiting the 

16 filing of or striking an amicus brief that would result in 

17 the disqualification of a justice, judge, or magistrate 

18 judge. 

19 (b) INITIAL TRANSMITTAL.—The Supreme Court of 

20 the United States shall transmit to Congress— 

21 (1) the proposed rules required under sub22 section (a) not later than 180 days after the date of 

23 enactment of this Act; and 


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1 (2) any rules in addition to those transmitted 

2 under paragraph (1) pursuant to section 2074 of 

3 title 28, United States Code. 

4 SEC. 9. STUDIES AND REPORTS. 

5 (a) STUDIES.— 

6 (1) IN GENERAL.—Beginning on the date that 

7 is 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act, 

8 and every other year thereafter, the Director of the 

9 Federal Judicial Center shall conduct a study on the 

10 extent of compliance or noncompliance with the re11 quirements of sections 144 and 455 of title 28, 

12 United States Code. 

13 (2) ADDITIONAL TIME.—With respect to the 

14 first such study required to be submitted under 

15 paragraph (1), the requirements of that paragraph 

16 may be implemented after the date described in that 

17 paragraph if the Director of the Federal Judicial 

18 Center identifies in writing to the relevant commit19 tees of Congress the additional time needed for sub20 mission of the study. 

21 (3) FACILITATION OF STUDIES.—The Director 

22 of the Federal Judicial Center shall maintain a 

23 record of each instance in which— 

24 (A) a justice, judge, magistrate judge, or 

25 bankruptcy judge of the United States was not 


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1 assigned to a case due to potential or actual 

2 conflicts; and 

3 (B) a justice, judge, magistrate judge, or 

4 bankruptcy judge of the United States disquali5 fies themselves after a case assignment is made. 

6 (b) REPORTS TO CONGRESS.—Not later than April 

7 1 of each year following the completion of the study re8 quired under subsection (a), the Director of the Federal 

9 Judicial Center shall submit to Congress a report con10 taining the findings of the study and any recommenda11 tions to improve compliance with sections 144 and 455 

12 of title 28, United States Code. 

13 (c) GAO REVIEW.—Not later than 1 year after the 

14 date on which the report is submitted under subsection 

15 (b), and every 5 years thereafter, the Comptroller General 

16 of the United States shall submit to Congress a report 

17 containing— 

18 (1) an evaluation of the methodology and find19 ings of the study required under subsection (a); and 

20 (2) the audit required under section 1661 of 

21 title 28, United States Code, as added by section 7 

22 of this Act. 

Æ 


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