Sponsor
Ben Ray Luján
Senator · D-NM
Senator · D-NM
The bill strengthens accountability by automatically barring DOJ attorneys sanctioned under FRCP 11 and gives OPR enforcement authority, but it risks disrupting DOJ staffing and litigation practices, potentially causing career harm to attorneys and slower or costlier government legal actions for the public.
Taxpayers and the public: increases DOJ accountability and public trust by automatically barring DOJ attorneys who receive FRCP 11 sanctions from representing the Government for one year.
Federal employees and government attorneys: creates a clear enforcement mechanism by assigning the DOJ Office of Professional Responsibility to implement and enforce the one-year bar.
DOJ attorneys disciplined under FRCP 11: face immediate, substantial career and income disruptions from an automatic one-year bar on representing the Government.
Taxpayers and the public: may experience reduced DOJ litigation staffing flexibility and increased workload for remaining prosecutors, causing slower case resolution and potential delays in government legal actions.
Taxpayers and litigants: could see higher costs or delayed enforcement because the bar may incentivize more defensive litigation behavior by DOJ attorneys (greater caution, withdrawals, or settlement avoidance).
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Requires DOJ to bar a government attorney from representing the United States for one year after a court imposes Rule 11 sanctions, with OPR enforcing the rule.
Official title: Amend title 28, United States Code, to prohibit attorneys for the Government who are sanctioned by a court from temporarily representing the Government.
Introduced April 16, 2026 by Ben Ray Luján · Last progress April 16, 2026
Amends federal law to require the Department of Justice to adopt rules that bar a government attorney from representing the United States in court or in court filings for one year if a court imposes sanctions on that attorney under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 11. The Department of Justice’s Office of Professional Responsibility is assigned responsibility to implement and carry out those rules. The change converts an existing paragraph into a subparagraph and adds the new one-year ban tied to Rule 11 sanctions; no funding or wider program changes are specified.