I 
118TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 927 
To amend title 28, United States Code, to provide for a code of conduct 
for justices and judges of the courts of the United States, establish 
an ethics investigations counsel, and require disclosure of recusals. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
FEBRUARY 9, 2023 
Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia (for himself and Mr. NADLER) introduced the 
following bill; which was 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 and judges of the courts 
of the United States, establish an ethics investigations 
counsel, and require disclosure of recusals. 
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 ‘‘Supreme Court Ethics 
Act.’’ 
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SEC. 2. CODE OF CONDUCT. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 57 of title 28, United 
States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘§ 964. Code of conduct 
‘‘Not later than 1 year after the date of the enact-
ment of this section, the Judicial Conference of the United 
States shall issue a code of conduct, which applies to each 
justice and judge of the courts of the United States, except 
that the code of conduct may include provisions that are 
applicable only to certain categories of judges or justices.’’. 
(b) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENT.— 
The table of sections for chapter 57 of title 28, United 
States Code, is amended by adding after the item related 
to section 963 the following: 
‘‘964. Code of conduct.’’. 
SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT OF ETHICS INVESTIGATIONS 
COUNSEL AND REPORTING PROTOCOL. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days after the 
date on which the Judicial Conference of the United 
States issues a code of conduct under section 964 of title 
28, United States Code, as added by section 2(a) of this 
Act, the Supreme Court of the United States shall appoint 
and fix the compensation of an Ethics Investigations 
Counsel who shall adopt rules providing for the enforce-
ment of the code of conduct, including a process to receive 
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from the public information about potential violations of 
the code of conduct by justices of the Supreme Court. 
(b) TERM.—The Ethics Investigation Counsel shall 
serve a term of 4 years. 
(c) REMOVAL.—The Ethics Investigation Counsel 
may be removed for cause by the Supreme Court of the 
United States. 
(d) PROCESS.—The process shall include the estab-
lishment of a method for the submission of the informa-
tion described in subsection (a) in electronic form. 
(e) INVESTIGATIONS.—The Ethics Investigations 
Counsel appointed under this section shall conduct inves-
tigations into potential violations of the code of conduct 
described in section 964 of title 28, United States Code, 
as added by section 2(a) of this Act, and other conduct 
prejudicial to the ethical, effective, and expeditious admin-
istration of the business of the Supreme Court of the 
United States. 
(f) ASSISTANTS.—The Ethics Investigations Counsel 
appointed under this section may, with the approval of the 
Chief Justice of the United States, appoint necessary as-
sistants and fix their compensation. 
(g) REPORT.—The Ethics Investigations Counsel ap-
pointed under this section shall issue an annual public re-
port describing the complaints described in subsection (a) 
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and any steps taken to investigate, resolve, or rehabilitate 
the conduct detailed in the complaint. 
SEC. 4. RECUSAL OF JUSTICES. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—In any case in which a justice of 
the Supreme Court of the United States disqualifies him-
self or herself in a proceeding under section 455 of title 
28, United States Code, the justice shall disclose in the 
public record of the proceeding the reasons for the dis-
qualification. 
(b) DENIAL OF MOTION TO DISQUALIFY.—If a jus-
tice of the Supreme Court of the United States denies a 
motion brought by a party to a proceeding before the 
Court that the justice should be disqualified in the pro-
ceeding under section 455 of title 28, United States Code, 
the justice shall disclose in the public record of the pro-
ceeding the reasons for the denial of the motion. 
Æ 
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