II 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 2195 

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 

DECEMBER 6, 2017 

Mr. GRASSLEY 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 Transparency 

5 and Ethics Enhancement Act of 2017’’. 

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 mis10 conduct in the United States Supreme Court that 

11 may require oversight or other action within the ju12 dicial branch or by Congress; 

13 ‘‘(3) conduct and supervise audits and inves14 tigations; 

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

16 abuse; and 

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

18 governing the judicial branch. 

19 ‘‘§ 1024. Powers 

20 ‘‘(a) POWERS.—In carrying out the duties of the Of21 fice, the Inspector General shall have the power to— 

22 ‘‘(1) make investigations and reports; 

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

24 Federal, State, or local governmental agency, or 

25 other entity, or unit thereof, including all informa26 tion kept in the course of business by the Judicial 


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1 Conference of the United States, the judicial coun2 cils of circuits, the Administrative Office of the 

3 United States Courts, and the United States Sen4 tencing Commission; 

5 ‘‘(3) require, by subpoena or otherwise, the at6 tendance and testimony of such witnesses, and the 

7 production of such books, records, correspondence, 

8 memoranda, papers, and documents, which sub9 poena, in the case of contumacy or refusal to obey, 

10 shall be enforceable by civil action; 

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

12 oath, affirmation, or affidavit; 

13 ‘‘(5) employ such officers and employees, sub14 ject to the provisions of title 5, governing appoint15 ments in the competitive service, and the provisions 

16 of chapter 51 and subchapter III of chapter 53 of 

17 such title relating to classification and General 

18 Schedule pay rates; 

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

20 3109 of title 5 at daily rates not to exceed the equiv21 alent rate for a position at level IV of the Executive 

22 Schedule under section 5315 of such title; and 

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

24 provided in advance by appropriations Acts, to enter 

25 into contracts and other arrangements for audits, 


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1 studies, analyses, and other services with public 

2 agencies and with private persons, and to make such 

3 payments as may be necessary to carry out the du4 ties of the Office. 

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

6 shall not commence an investigation under section 

7 1023(1) until the denial of a petition for review by the 

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

9 title or upon referral or certification to the Judicial Con10 ference of the United States of any matter under section 

11 354(b) of this title. 

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

13 have the authority to— 

14 ‘‘(1) investigate or review any matter that is di15 rectly related to the merits of a decision or proce16 dural ruling by any judge, justice, or court; or 

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

18 court. 

19 ‘‘§ 1025. Reports 

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

21 shall— 

22 ‘‘(1) make an annual report to the Chief Jus23 tice and to Congress relating to the activities of the 

24 Office; and 


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

2 and to Congress on matters that may require action 

3 by the Chief Justice or Congress. 

4 ‘‘(b) SENSITIVE MATTER.—If a report contains sen5 sitive matter, the Inspector General may so indicate and 

6 Congress may receive that report in closed session. 

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

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

9 shall report expeditiously to the Attorney General when10 ever the Inspector General has reasonable grounds to be11 lieve there has been a violation of Federal criminal law. 

12 ‘‘§ 1026. Whistleblower protection 

13 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—No officer, employee, agent, con14 tractor, or subcontractor in the judicial branch may dis15 charge, demote, threaten, suspend, harass, or in any other 

16 manner discriminate against an employee in the terms and 

17 conditions of employment because of any lawful act done 

18 by the employee to provide information, cause information 

19 to be provided, or otherwise assist in an investigation re20 garding any possible violation of Federal law or regulation, 

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

22 in the judicial branch, which may assist the Inspector Gen23 eral in the performance of duties under this chapter. 


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1 ‘‘(b) CIVIL ACTION.—An employee injured by a viola2 tion of subsection (a) may, in a civil action, obtain appro3 priate relief.’’. 

4 (b) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENT.— 

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

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

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

Æ 


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