Sponsors (13)
The bill increases transparency and congressional oversight of emergency court orders by requiring written explanations and regular compliance reports, trading off faster emergency relief and administrative costs and risking politicization of judicial decisionmaking.
All court users — including litigants, the public, taxpayers, and state governments — will receive clearer, written explanations of why the Supreme Court grants or denies emergency relief, including findings on the traditional preliminary-injunction factors, improving transparency, accountability, and helping litigants plan next steps.
The public and taxpayers will see individual justices' votes or clearer disclosures about emergency orders, which can deter opaque emergency rulings and increase judicial accountability.
Congress and federal officials will receive regular, evidence-based reports and specific recommendations on federal courts' compliance with 28 U.S.C. §2285, enabling legislative oversight and targeted corrective actions that can reduce legal uncertainty and implementation risk for courts and agencies.
Parties seeking urgent emergency relief — including state governments and the public — may face delays if courts must prepare more detailed written explanations before issuing time-sensitive orders.
The Supreme Court and the Federal Judicial Center will face increased administrative burdens and costs to produce majority explanations, individual-vote disclosures, and recurring compliance reports, potentially diverting staff time and raising expenses borne by taxpayers.
Individual-justice vote disclosure may increase political pressure on justices and could chill frank internal deliberations or encourage strategic voting, affecting judicial independence.
Based on analysis of 4 sections of legislative text.
Requires the Supreme Court to publish written explanations and disclose individual Justices’ votes for orders granting, denying, or vacating emergency preliminary injunctive relief or stays, and mandates biennial FJC compliance reports.
Requires the U.S. Supreme Court to publish written explanations and disclose how each Justice voted whenever it grants, denies, or vacates emergency preliminary injunctive relief or a stay of such relief. It also requires the Federal Judicial Center to send Congress a regular report on how well the Court is complying with that rule. The law defines which kinds of orders are covered, allows multiple majority opinions, excludes routine administrative orders and certiorari-only petitions that don't involve preliminary relief, and includes a standard severability clause so other parts remain if part is struck down.
Introduced December 17, 2025 by Richard Blumenthal · Last progress December 17, 2025