I 
117TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 5720 
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 offi-
cers, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
OCTOBER 25, 2021 
Ms. ROSS (for herself, Mr. ISSA, Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia, Mr. NADLER, and 
Mr. ROY) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com-
mittee on the Judiciary 
A BILL 
To amend the Ethics in Government Act of 1978 to provide 
for a periodic transaction reporting requirement for Fed-
eral judicial officers and the online publication of finan-
cial disclosure reports of Federal judicial officers, and 
for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Courthouse Ethics and 
Transparency Act of 2021’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds that— 
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(1) recent reports indicate certain Federal 
judges have failed to recuse themselves from cases 
and controversies in which the financial interests of 
the Federal judges are implicated; 
(2) Federal law and the judicial recusal rules 
applicable to Federal judges require that Federal 
judges disqualify themselves in any proceeding in 
which the impartiality of the Federal judges might 
be reasonably questioned, including instances in 
which a Federal judge has any financial interest in 
the subject matter in controversy or in a party to 
the proceeding; 
(3) litigants and the public have an interest in 
fair and impartial judicial proceedings, the results 
and conduct of which avoid any appearance of im-
propriety; and 
(4) in 2012, the STOCK Act (Public Law 112– 
105; 126 Stat. 291) was enacted, which provides 
that Members of Congress and Federal officials have 
a duty of trust and confidentiality to not use infor-
mation obtained from their official duties for private 
gain, including the purchase and sale of stocks, 
bonds, commodities, futures, and other securities. 
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SEC. 3. PERIODIC TRANSACTION REPORTS AND ONLINE 
PUBLICATION OF FINANCIAL DISCLOSURE 
REPORTS OF FEDERAL JUDICIAL OFFICERS. 
(a) PERIODIC TRANSACTION REPORTING REQUIRE-
MENT FOR FEDERAL JUDICIAL OFFICERS.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Section 103(l) of the Ethics 
in Government Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.) is 
amended by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(11) Each judicial officer.’’. 
(2) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made 
by paragraph (1) shall apply to applicable trans-
actions occurring on or after the date that is 90 
days after the date of enactment of this Act. 
(b) ONLINE PUBLICATION OF FINANCIAL DISCLO-
SURE REPORTS OF FEDERAL JUDICIAL OFFICERS.—Sec-
tion 105 of the Ethics in Government Act of 1978 (5 
U.S.C. App.) is amended— 
(1) by redesignating subsections (c) and (d) as 
subsections (d) and (e), respectively; and 
(2) by inserting after subsection (b) the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(c) ONLINE PUBLICATION OF FINANCIAL DISCLO-
SURE REPORTS OF JUDICIAL OFFICERS.— 
‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT
OF
DATABASE.—Not 
later than 180 days after the date of enactment of 
the Courthouse Ethics and Transparency Act of 
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2021, the Administrative Office of the United States 
Courts shall establish a searchable internet database 
to enable public access to any report required to be 
filed by a judicial officer under this title. 
‘‘(2) AVAILABILITY.—Not later than 90 days 
after the date on which a report is required to be 
filed under this title by a judicial officer, the Admin-
istrative Office of the United States Courts shall 
make the report available on the database estab-
lished under paragraph (1) in a full-text searchable, 
sortable, and downloadable format for access by the 
public. 
‘‘(3) REDACTION.—Any report made available 
on the database established under paragraph (1) 
shall not contain any information that is redacted in 
accordance with subsection (b)(3).’’. 
(c) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 
(1) Section 103(l) of the Ethics in Government 
Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.) (as amended by sub-
section (a)(1)) is amended— 
(A) in paragraph (9), by striking ‘‘, as de-
fined under section 109(12)’’; and 
(B) in paragraph (10), by striking ‘‘, as 
defined under section 109(13)’’. 
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