Sponsors (6)
The bill builds formal ethics and investigatory structures to increase Supreme Court accountability and transparency, but it raises taxpayer costs and concentrates key appointment and disclosure powers with the Chief Justice while narrowing who can trigger investigations and imposing new constraints on justices' activities.
Taxpayers and the public get a formal, independent Office to investigate Supreme Court ethics complaints and centralized ethics guidance, creating clearer accountability for justices and reducing conflicts of interest.
Law enforcement and the public gain stronger investigatory tools because the Office can compel nationwide testimony and documents and must notify the Attorney General of potential federal crimes, improving evidence-gathering and enabling criminal referrals when warranted.
Taxpayers and Congress receive greater oversight because the bill requires annual ethics reporting and mandates that investigative reports be shared with House and Senate oversight committees, increasing transparency to elected representatives.
Taxpayers will pay higher judicial-branch costs because the bill creates new high-salary positions and additional payroll expenses to staff the ethics and investigative offices.
Taxpayers and federal employees face a risk to independent oversight because the Chief Justice is given sole authority to appoint and remove the ethics and investigative counsels, concentrating influence over hiring and investigations within Court leadership.
Taxpayers and the public may get limited public transparency because the Chief Justice has discretion over public release of investigative reports even though congressional committees receive them.
Based on analysis of 4 sections of legislative text.
Introduced February 25, 2026 by Cory Anthony Booker · Last progress February 25, 2026
Creates two new offices inside the Supreme Court: an Office of Ethics Counsel to advise justices and their spouses on ethics rules and to provide mandatory training and annual reporting, and an Office of Investigative Counsel with subpoena power to review and investigate specified complaints about justices and produce reports with recommendations to the Chief Justice and specified congressional committees. The Chief Justice appoints the chief officers, which must be experienced, licensed attorneys, and the bill sets minimum pay levels, term limits, reporting requirements, and limited grounds for removal.