II 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 3059 

To amend the Ethics in Government Act of 1978 to provide for a periodic 

transaction reporting requirement for Federal judicial officers and the 

online publication of financial disclosure reports of Federal judicial officers, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

OCTOBER 25, 2021 

Mr. CORNYN (for himself, Mr. COONS, Mr. KENNEDY, Mr. WHITEHOUSE, Mr. 

DURBIN, Mr. CRUZ, Mr. GRASSLEY, and Mr. OSSOFF) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on 

Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs 

A BILL 

To amend the Ethics in Government Act of 1978 to provide 

for a periodic transaction reporting requirement for Federal judicial officers and the online publication of financial disclosure reports of Federal judicial officers, 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 ‘‘Courthouse Ethics and 

5 Transparency Act of 2021’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

2 Congress finds that— 

3 (1) recent reports indicate certain Federal 

4 judges have failed to recuse themselves from cases 

5 and controversies in which the financial interests of 

6 the Federal judges are implicated; 

7 (2) Federal law and the judicial recusal rules 

8 applicable to Federal judges require that Federal 

9 judges disqualify themselves in any proceeding in 

10 which the impartiality of the Federal judges might 

11 be reasonably questioned, including instances in 

12 which a Federal judge has any financial interest in 

13 the subject matter in controversy or in a party to 

14 the proceeding; 

15 (3) litigants and the public have an interest in 

16 fair and impartial judicial proceedings, the results 

17 and conduct of which avoid any appearance of im18 propriety; and 

19 (4) in 2012, the STOCK Act (Public Law 112– 

20 105; 126 Stat. 291) was enacted, which provides 

21 that Members of Congress and Federal officials have 

22 a duty of trust and confidentiality to not use infor23 mation obtained from their official duties for private 

24 gain, including the purchase and sale of stocks, 

25 bonds, commodities, futures, and other securities. 


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1 SEC. 3. PERIODIC TRANSACTION REPORTS AND ONLINE 

2 PUBLICATION OF FINANCIAL DISCLOSURE 

3 REPORTS OF FEDERAL JUDICIAL OFFICERS. 

4 (a) PERIODIC TRANSACTION REPORTING REQUIRE5 MENT FOR FEDERAL JUDICIAL OFFICERS.— 

6 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 103(l) of the Ethics 

7 in Government Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.) is 

8 amended by adding at the end the following: 

9 ‘‘(11) Each judicial officer.’’. 

10 (2) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made 

11 by paragraph (1) shall apply to applicable trans12 actions occurring on or after the date that is 90 

13 days after the date of enactment of this Act. 

14 (b) ONLINE PUBLICATION OF FINANCIAL DISCLO15 SURE REPORTS OF FEDERAL JUDICIAL OFFICERS.—Sec16 tion 105 of the Ethics in Government Act of 1978 (5 

17 U.S.C. App.) is amended— 

18 (1) by redesignating subsections (c) and (d) as 

19 subsections (d) and (e), respectively; and 

20 (2) by inserting after subsection (b) the fol21 lowing: 

22 ‘‘(c) ONLINE PUBLICATION OF FINANCIAL DISCLO23 SURE REPORTS OF JUDICIAL OFFICERS.— 

24 ‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT OF DATABASE.—Not 

25 later than 180 days after the date of enactment of 

26 the Courthouse Ethics and Transparency Act of 


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1 2021, the Administrative Office of the United States 

2 Courts shall establish a searchable internet database 

3 to enable public access to any report required to be 

4 filed by a judicial officer under this title. 

5 ‘‘(2) AVAILABILITY.—Not later than 90 days 

6 after the date on which a report is required to be 

7 filed under this title by a judicial officer, the Admin8 istrative Office of the United States Courts shall 

9 make the report available on the database estab10 lished under paragraph (1) in a full-text searchable, 

11 sortable, and downloadable format for access by the 

12 public. 

13 ‘‘(3) REDACTION.—Any report made available 

14 on the database established under paragraph (1) 

15 shall not contain any information that is redacted in 

16 accordance with subsection (b)(3).’’. 

17 (c) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 

18 (1) Section 103(l) of the Ethics in Government 

19 Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.) (as amended by sub20 section (a)(1)) is amended— 

21 (A) in paragraph (9), by striking ‘‘, as de22 fined under section 109(12)’’; and 

23 (B) in paragraph (10), by striking ‘‘, as 

24 defined under section 109(13)’’. 


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1 (2) Section 105 of the Ethics in Government 

2 Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.) (as amended by sub3 section (b)) is amended— 

4 (A) in subsection (a)(1), by striking ‘‘be 

5 revealing’’ and inserting ‘‘by revealing’’; and 

6 (B) in subsection (b)— 

7 (i) in paragraph (1)— 

8 (I) in the first sentence, by strik9 ing ‘‘be,,’’ and inserting ‘‘be,’’; and 

10 (II) in the third sentence, by 

11 striking ‘‘may be may’’ and inserting 

12 ‘‘may be, may’’; and 

13 (ii) in paragraph (3)(A), by striking 

14 ‘‘described in section 109(8) or 109(10) of 

15 this Act’’ and inserting ‘‘who is a judicial 

16 officer or a judicial employee’’. 

17 (3) Section 107(a)(1) of the Ethics in Govern18 ment Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App) is amended in the 

19 last sentence by striking ‘‘and (d)’’ and inserting 

20 ‘‘and (e)’’. 

Æ 


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