[House Report 117-199]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]


117th Congress    }                                    {        Report
                        HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
 1st Session      }                                    {       117-199

======================================================================



 
                 COURTHOUSE ETHICS AND TRANSPARENCY ACT

                                _______
                                

December 1, 2021.--Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the 
              State of the Union and ordered to be printed

                                _______
                                

    Mr. Nadler, from the Committee on the Judiciary, submitted the 
                               following

                              R E P O R T

                        [To accompany H.R. 5720]

    The Committee on the Judiciary, to whom was referred the 
bill (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 officers, and 
for other purposes, having considered the same, reports 
favorably thereon with an amendment and recommends that the 
bill as amended do pass.

                                CONTENTS

                                                                   Page
Purpose and Summary..............................................     2
Background and Need for the Legislation..........................     3
Hearings.........................................................     6
Committee Consideration..........................................     6
Committee Votes..................................................     6
Committee Oversight Findings.....................................     6
New Budget Authority and Tax Expenditures and Congressional 
  Budget Office Cost Estimate....................................     6
Duplication of Federal Programs..................................     7
Performance Goals and Objectives.................................     7
Advisory on Earmarks.............................................     7
Section-by-Section Analysis......................................     7
Changes in Existing Law Made by the Bill, as Reported............     7

    The amendment is as follows:
  Strike all that follows after the enacting clause and insert 
the following:

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

  This Act may be cited as the ``Courthouse Ethics and Transparency 
Act''.

SEC. 2. PERIODIC TRANSACTION REPORTS AND ONLINE PUBLICATION OF 
                    FINANCIAL DISCLOSURE REPORTS OF FEDERAL JUDICIAL 
                    OFFICERS.

  (a) Periodic Transaction Reporting Requirement 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 transactions occurring on or after 
        the date that is 90 days after the date of enactment of this 
        Act.
  (b) Online Publication of Financial Disclosure Reports of Federal 
Judicial Officers.--Section 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 following:
  ``(c) Online Publication of Financial Disclosure 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, 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 Administrative Office of the United 
        States Courts shall make the report available on the database 
        established 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 subsection (a)(1)) is amended--
                  (A) in paragraph (9), by striking ``, as defined 
                under section 109(12)''; and
                  (B) in paragraph (10), by striking ``, as defined 
                under section 109(13)''.
          (2) Section 105 of the Ethics in Government Act of 1978 (5 
        U.S.C. App.) (as amended by subsection (b)) is amended--
                  (A) in subsection (a)(1), by striking ``be 
                revealing'' and inserting ``by revealing''; and
                  (B) in subsection (b)--
                          (i) in paragraph (1)--
                                  (I) in the first sentence, by 
                                striking ``be,,'' and inserting 
                                ``be,''; and
                                  (II) in the third sentence, by 
                                striking ``may be may'' and inserting 
                                ``may be, may''; and
                          (ii) in paragraph (3)(A), by striking 
                        ``described in section 109(8) or 109(10) of 
                        this Act'' and inserting ``who is a judicial 
                        officer or a judicial employee''.
          (3) Section 107(a)(1) of the Ethics in Government Act of 1978 
        (5 U.S.C. App) is amended in the last sentence by striking 
        ``and (d)'' and inserting ``and (e)''.

                          Purpose and Summary

    H.R. 5720, the ``Courthouse Ethics and Transparency Act,'' 
closes two loopholes exempting federal judicial officers from 
key provisions of the Ethics in Government Act of 1978, as 
amended by the STOCK Act of 2012. First, H.R. 5720 extends the 
STOCK Act's requirement that senior government officials 
disclose securities transactions in excess of $1,000 within 30 
to 45 days to judicial officers. Second, H.R. 5720 requires the 
Administrative Office of the United States Courts to make all 
judicial financial disclosure reports available in a publicly 
accessible online database in a full-text searchable, sortable, 
and downloadable format not later than 90 days after the 
reports are required to be filed.
    These reforms will make disclosure reports easier for the 
public to monitor and analyze, which would allow for increased 
transparency to better effectuate the purposes of the Ethics in 
Government Act of 1978--``to preserve and promote the integrity 
of public officials and institutions''--as well as the 
principal federal judicial recusal statute, 28 U.S.C. Sec.  
455.\1\
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    \1\See Ethics in Government Act of 1978, Pub. L. No. 95-521, 92 
Stat. 1824 (1978) (``An Act . . . to implement certain reforms in the 
operation of the Federal Government and to preserve and promote the 
integrity of public officials and institutions, and for other 
purposes.'').
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                Background and Need for the Legislation


A. Recent Evidence of Violations of the Federal Judicial 
        Disqualification Statute

    Federal law prohibits judges and justices from hearing 
cases in which they or their families have a ``legal or 
equitable interest, however small'' in order to promote 
confidence in the judiciary.\2\ However, according to the Wall 
Street Journal, since 2010, more than 130 federal judges failed 
to recuse themselves from 685 court cases involving companies 
in which they or their families had a financial interest, and 
approximately two-thirds of the judges' rulings were decided in 
favor of the party in which they or their families held an 
interest.\3\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \2\28 U.S.C. Sec.  455(d)(4); see also James V. Grimaldi, Coulter 
Jones & Joe Palazzolo, 131 Federal Judges Broke the Law by Hearing 
Cases Where They Had a Financial Interest, Wall St. J. (Sept. 28, 2021, 
9:07 a.m.), https://www.wsj.com/articles/131-federal-judges-broke-the-
law-by-hearing-cases-where-they-had-a-financial-interest-11632834421.
    \3\Grimaldi et al., supra note 2.
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    In 173 cases, the judges' financial interests exceeded 
$15,000, and, of those cases, 21 totaled over $50,000.\4\ 
Sixty-one judges or their families traded shares of companies 
while ruling on cases in which those companies were parties.\5\ 
When questioned about these violations by the Wall Street 
Journal, responses by the judges ranged from blaming court 
clerks and misspellings that went undetected by the judiciary's 
conflict-screening software to only having minor roles in the 
cases and not having a role in the trading since the stocks 
were in a managed account or trust.\6\ Of the 61 judges whose 
brokers or family members actively traded shares of the parties 
in their courtrooms as their lawsuits were progressing, many 
made several thousands of dollars in profits on those 
trades.\7\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \4\Id.
    \5\Id.
    \6\Id.
    \7\Coulter Jones, Joe Palazzolo & James V. Grimaldi, Federal Judges 
or Their Brokers Traded Stocks of Litigants During Cases, Wall St. J. 
(Oct. 15, 2021, 9:59 a.m.), https://www.wsj.com/articles/federal-
judges-brokers-traded-stocks-of-litigants-during-cases-walmart-pfizer-
11634306192.
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    The Wall Street Journal's investigation followed a number 
of previous reports over the past two decades that judges had 
failed to recuse in cases where they had a financial 
conflict.\8\ Additionally, one expert explained to the 
Committee that the Journal's findings are:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \8\See, e.g., Benjamin B. Johnson & John Newby Parton, Judges 
Breaking the Law: An Empirical Study of Financially Interested Judges 
Deciding Cases, 99 N.C. L. Rev. 1, 2 (2020); Reity O'Brien, Kytja Weir, 
and Chris Young, Federal Judges Plead Guilty, Ctr. for pub. integrity 
(Apr. 28, 2014), https://publicintegrity.org/2014/04/28/14630/federal-
judges-plead-guilty; Joe Stephens, Ethics Lapses by Federal Judges 
Persist, Review Finds, Wash. Post (Apr. 18, 2006), https://
www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/2006/04/18/ethics-lapses-by-
federal-judges-persist-review-finds-span-classbankheadviolations-
involve-stock-holdings-and-free-tripsspan/8cf1b306-7dbd-4d20-a75c-
868f1a546466/.

          surely a major undercount: The Journal's work focused 
        on district and appellate court judges, and excluded 
        magistrate and bankruptcy judges; their work focused 
        mainly on individual stock holdings, to the exclusion 
        of the many other types of investments judges can hold; 
        and their work was based on case captions (e.g., 
        ``Albatross v. Loon''), not full party lists, which 
        would expose numerous other parties--and conflicts--in 
        a case.\9\
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    \9\Judicial Ethics and Transparency: The Limits of Existing 
Statutes and Rules: Hearing Before the Subcomm. on Cts., Intell. Prop., 
and the Internet of the H. Comm. on the Judiciary, 117th Cong. (2021) 
(statement for the record of Michael Lissner, Exec. Dir., Free L. 
Project at 4).

B. Applicable Law

            1. Periodic Transaction Reports
    The Ethics in Government Act of 1978 requires most high-
level government officials in all branches, including judicial 
officers and judicial employees, to file annual financial 
disclosure reports.\10\ Federal officials other than judicial 
officers and employees must also supplement the disclosures 
provided by their annual filings with interim disclosures if 
they have made significant changes to their financial holdings. 
Under the STOCK Act, legislative and executive branch officials 
must file Periodic Transaction Reports (PTRs) disclosing 
transactions involving stocks, bonds, and other securities that 
exceed $1,000 within 45 (and in some cases, 30) days of the 
transaction.\11\
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    \10\See 5 U.S.C. App. Sec. 102; Sec. 109(10) of the Ethics in 
Government Act of 1978 defines ``judicial officer'' to include the 
Chief Justice and Associate Justice of the Supreme Court, as well as 
the ``judges of'' the courts of appeals (which includes circuit judges) 
and the district courts (which includes district judges and bankruptcy 
judges), as well as a list of Article I courts. When this language was 
enacted, district judges comprised the only ``judges of . . . the 
district courts.'' The remaining senior judicial branch officials are 
``judicial employees'' under Sec. 109(8).
    \11\5 U.S.C. App. Sec. 103(1).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    H.R. 5720 applies these same requirements to all judicial 
officers.
            2. Public Access to Financial Disclosure Reports
    Pursuant to the 2012 STOCK Act, Legislative Branch 
financial disclosure reports are readily available online, as 
are the President's, the Vice President's, and all executive 
officials compensated at level I and II of the Executive 
Schedule (generally, all Cabinet officials, Deputy Secretaries, 
and the heads of most executive and independent agencies).\12\ 
But this STOCK Act disclosure requirement does not apply to 
judicial officers and employees.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \12\See generally STOCK Act, Pub. L. No. 112-105 (2012) (codified 
as amended at 5 U.S.C. App. 4 Sec. 101).
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    Instead, pursuant to the Ethics in Government Act, judicial 
officers' and employees' financial disclosures must merely be 
provided to ``any person'' who requests them.\13\ In the 
absence of an explicit statutory mandate to act quickly or 
employ prevailing technology, the Judicial Conference of the 
United States has implemented a process under which obtaining 
judicial branch financial disclosures can take months or even 
years.\14\
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    \13\5 U.S.C. Sec. 105(b)(1).
    \14\See generally Judicial Ethics and Transparency: The Limits of 
Existing Statutes and Rules, supra note 9; See A U.S. Gov't 
Accountability Off., GAO-18-406, Federal Judiciary: The Administrative 
Office of the U.S. Courts Should Ensure Financial Disclosure Redaction 
Reports Are Submitted to Congress Annually (2018), https://www.gao.gov/
assets/700/692168.pdf; see also William Palin, Free Law Project Creates 
the First Online Database of Federal Judicial Financial Disclosures, 
Free L. Project (Sept. 28, 2021), https://free.law/2021/09/28/
announcing-federal-financial-disclosures (``We expect to receive and 
process the majority of the 2019 disclosures in the coming weeks.'').
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    The current process for obtaining judicial branch financial 
disclosure reports works as follows. First, a request form must 
be submitted to the Administrative Office of the United States 
Courts (AOUSC). Second, the justice or judge whose financial 
disclosure report has been requested is notified of the request 
and of the identity of the requester.\15\ Third, the justice or 
judge may then propose redactions to the copy of their 
financial disclosure report to be provided to the requester; 
these proposed redactions are then evaluated by AOUSC staff. 
These request-specific redactions are in addition to the 
redactions judges are permitted to make when they initially 
file their financial disclosure reports (officials in other 
branches are not permitted to make such redactions).\16\ 
Fourth, if a justice or judge objects to providing the 
requester with the report, that objection is evaluated by a 
committee of the Judicial Conference.\17\ Finally, the 
disclosures are given to the requester in either hard copy or 
on a thumb drive.\18\ Although financial disclosures are 
generally submitted in a text-searchable format, the copies on 
the thumb drive were until this year provided in an image 
format the renders the disclosures unsearchable.\19\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \15\Federal Judiciary: The Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts 
Should Ensure Financial Disclosure Redaction Reports Are Submitted to 
Congress Annually, supra note 14.
    \16\See Admin. Off. of the U.S. Cts., Comm. on Fin. Disclosure, 
Filing Instructions for Judicial Officers and Employees (Feb. 2021), 
available at https://fixthecourt.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/
Instructions-to-file-FDs-for-2021.pdf (``[F]ilers should consider 
whether to request redaction at the beginning of the calendar year when 
their report is filed, instead of waiting until their report is 
requested.''); see also Coulter Jones, James V. Grimaldi & Joe 
Palazzolo, How the Journal Found Judge's Violations of Law on 
Conflicts, Wall St. J. (Sept. 28, 2021, 8:56 a.m.), https://
www.wsj.com/articles/how-the-journal-found-judges-violations-of-law-on-
conflicts-
11632833775?mod=article_relatedinline&mod=article_relatedinline.
    \17\Guide to Judiciary Policy, Vol. 2D, Ch. 1: Overview, U.S. CTS. 
(2021), https://www.uscourts.gov/sites/default/files/guide-vol02d.pdf.
    \18\Request for Examination of Report Filed by A Judicial Officer 
or Judicial Employee, U.S. Cts. (2019), https://www.uscourts.gov/sites/
default/files/ao010a.pdf.
    \19\See 5 U.S.C. App. 4 Sec. 105(b)(1).
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    H.R. 5720 would make financial disclosures available online 
within 90 days of the date they must be filed.

C. Impact of the Current Judicial Financial Disclosure System on 
        Judicial Recusal

    The deficiencies in the current financial disclosure system 
make it difficult for litigants and the public to assess 
whether a judge or justice is in compliance with their 
statutory and ethical recusal requirements. Both the fact that 
judges are exempt from the periodic disclosure report 
provisions of the STOCK Act as well as the long delays in the 
request process for annual financial disclosure reports prevent 
litigants from requesting and receiving relevant financial 
information in enough time to alert a justice or judge that 
they must recuse themselves at an early stage of the case, or 
to challenge the judge's decision not to do so. In addition, 
the request process itself alerts the justice or judge that a 
litigant is seeking his or her financial disclosure report; in 
practice, this notification process can have a substantial 
chilling effect, deterring litigants from seeking such 
disclosures lest they upset the justice or judge overseeing 
their case.

D. Intended Operation of H.R. 5720

    H.R. 5720 is intended to strengthen existing measures meant 
to ensure the appearance of impartiality that is essential to 
judicial legitimacy. Requirements for the disclosure of 
personal financial interests, in addition to strict 
requirements for recusal in the event of a conflict with those 
financial interests, help to assure litigants that their cases 
will be heard by a neutral, disinterested arbiter and resolved 
on their individual merits, which increases public acceptance 
of the outcomes of our judicial system. The goal of this bill 
is to better enable litigants, the public, and the press to 
hold judges accountable and ensure that judges are not deciding 
cases in which they are prohibited by federal law from being 
involved. Requiring judges to file their financial disclosures 
shortly after their high-dollar securities transactions and 
guaranteeing public access to those disclosures will increase 
transparency, justice, and fairness and bring members of the 
judicial branch into parity with members of the executive and 
legislative branches.

                                Hearings

    For the purposes of clause 3(c)(6)(A) of House Rule XIII, 
the following hearing was used to develop H.R. 5720. On October 
26, 2021, the Subcommittee on Courts, Intellectual Property, 
and the Internet held a hearing on ``Judicial Ethics and 
Transparency: The Limits of Existing Statutes and Rules.''

                        Committee Consideration

    On November 17, 2021, the Committee met in open session and 
ordered H.R. 5720, favorably reported with amendment, by a 
voice vote, a quorum being present.

                            Committee Votes

    In accordance with clause 3(b) of rule XIII of the Rules of 
the House of Representatives, the Committee advises that no 
recorded vote occurred during the Committee's consideration of 
H.R. 5720.

                      Committee Oversight Findings

    In compliance with clause 3(c)(1) of rule XIII of the Rules 
of the House of Representatives, the Committee advises that the 
findings and recommendations of the Committee, based on 
oversight activities under clause 2(b)(1) of rule X of the 
Rules of the House of Representatives, are incorporated in the 
descriptive portions of this report.

  New Budget Authority and Tax Expenditures and Congressional Budget 
                          Office Cost Estimate

    With respect to the requirements of clause 3(c)(2) of rule 
XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives and section 
308(a) of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 and with respect 
to requirements of clause (3)(c)(3) of rule XIII of the Rules 
of the House of Representatives and section 402 of the 
Congressional Budget Act of 1974, the Committee has requested 
but not received a cost estimate for this bill from the 
Director of Congressional Budget Office. The Committee has 
requested but not received from the Director of the 
Congressional Budget Office a statement as to whether this bill 
contains any new budget authority, spending authority, credit 
authority, or an increase or decrease in revenues or tax 
expenditures.

                    Duplication of Federal Programs

    No provision of H.R. 5720 establishes or reauthorizes a 
program of the federal government known to be duplicative of 
another federal program, a program that was included in any 
report from the Government Accountability Office to Congress 
pursuant to section 21 of Public Law 111-139, or a program 
related to a program identified in the most recent Catalog of 
Federal Domestic Assistance.

                    Performance Goals and Objectives

    The Committee states that, pursuant to clause 3(c)(4) of 
rule XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives, the 
goal of H.R. 5720 is to empower individuals to ensure that 
judges and justices are abiding by the requirements of federal 
law and to enhance compliance with existing disclosure and 
recusal obligations intended to safeguard judicial 
impartiality.

                          Advisory on Earmarks

    In accordance with clause 9 of rule XXI of the Rules of the 
House of Representatives, H.R. 5720 does not contain any 
congressional earmarks, limited tax benefits, or limited tariff 
benefits as defined in clause 9(d), 9(e), or 9(f) of rule XXI.

                      Section-by-Section Analysis

    The following discussion describes the bill as reported by 
the Committee.
    Sec. 1. Short Title. Section 1 sets forth the short title 
of the bill as the ``Courthouse Ethics and Transparency Act.''
    Sec. 2. Periodic Transaction Reports and Online Publication 
of Financial Disclosure Reports of Federal Judicial Officers. 
Section 2(a) amends section 103(l) of the Ethics in Government 
Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.), which requires covered officials 
to report securities transactions that exceed $1,000 within 30 
to 45 days, to include judicial officers. The requirements of 
this subsection apply to all applicable transactions occurring 
90 days after the enactment of H.R. 5720.
    Section 2(b) amends section 105 of the Ethics in Government 
Act of 1978 to require that, not later than 180 days after 
enactment of H.R. 5720, all financial disclosure reports of 
judicial officers be made available in a publicly accessible, 
searchable online database established by the Administrative 
Office of the United States Courts. Reports must be made 
available on the database not later than 90 days after they are 
required to be filed and must be available in a full-text 
searchable, sortable, and downloadable format. Section 2(b) 
also provides that any reports posted in the publicly 
accessible database shall not contain any redacted information.
    Section 2(c) makes technical and conforming amendments to 
the Ethics in Government Act of 1978 to reflect the substantive 
amendments made in sections 2(a) and 2(b).

         Changes in Existing Law Made by the Bill, as Reported

    In compliance with clause 3(e) of rule XIII of the Rules of 
the House of Representatives, changes in existing law made by 
the bill, H.R. 5720 as reported, are shown as follows:

         Changes in Existing Law Made by the Bill, as Reported

  In compliance with clause 3(e) of rule XIII of the Rules of 
the House of Representatives, changes in existing law made by 
the bill, as reported, are shown as follows (existing law 
proposed to be omitted is enclosed in black brackets, new 
matter is printed in italics, and existing law in which no 
change is proposed is shown in roman):

                    ETHICS IN GOVERNMENT ACT OF 1978



           *       *       *       *       *       *       *
TITLE I--FINANCIAL DISCLOSURE REQUIREMENTS OF FEDERAL PERSONNEL

           *       *       *       *       *       *       *


                           FILING OF REPORTS

  Sec. 103. (a) Except as otherwise provided in this section, 
the reports required under this title shall be filed by the 
reporting individual with the designated agency ethics official 
at the agency by which he is employed (or in the case of an 
individual described in section 101(e), was employed) or in 
which he will serve. The date any report is received (and the 
date of receipt of any supplemental report) shall be noted on 
such report by such official.
  (b) The President, the Vice President, and independent 
counsel and persons appointed by independent counsel under 
chapter 40 of title 28, United States Code, shall file reports 
required under this title with the Director of the Office of 
Government Ethics.
  (c) Copies of the reports required to be filed under this 
title by the Postmaster General, the Deputy Postmaster General, 
the Governors of the Board of Governors of the United States 
Postal Service, designated agency ethics officials, employees 
described in section 105(a)(2)(A) or (B), 106(a)(1)(A) or (B), 
or 107(a)(1)(A) or (b)(1)(A)(i), of title 3, United States 
Code, candidates for the office of President or Vice President 
and officers and employees in (and nominees to) offices or 
positions which require confirmation by the Senate or by both 
Houses of Congress other than individuals nominated to be 
judicial officers and those referred to in subsection (f) shall 
be transmitted to the Director of the Office of Government 
Ethics. The Director shall forward a copy of the report of each 
nominee to the congressional committee considering the 
nomination.
  (d) Reports required to be filed under this title by the 
Director of the Office of Government Ethics shall be filed in 
the Office of Government Ethics and, immediately after being 
filed, shall be made available to the public in accordance with 
this title.
  (e) Each individual identified in section 101(c) who is a 
candidate for nomination or election to the Office of President 
or Vice President shall file the reports required by this title 
with the Federal Election Commission.
  (f) Reports required of members of the uniformed services 
shall be filed with the Secretary concerned.
  (g) Each supervising ethics office shall develop and make 
available forms for reporting the information required by this 
title.
  (h)(1) The reports required under this title shall be filed 
by a reporting individual with--
          (A)(i)(I) the Clerk of the House of Representatives, 
        in the case of a Representative in Congress, a Delegate 
        to Congress, the Resident Commissioner from Puerto 
        Rico, an officer or employee of the Congress whose 
        compensation is disbursed by the Chief Administrator 
        Officer of the House of Representatives, an officer or 
        employee of the Architect of the Capitol, United States 
        Capitol Police, the United States Botanic Garden, the 
        Congressional Budget Office, the Government Printing 
        Office, the Library of Congress, or the Copyright 
        Royalty Tribunal (including any individual terminating 
        service, under section 101(e), in any office or 
        position referred to in this subclause), or an 
        individual described in section 101(c) who is a 
        candidate for nomination or election as a 
        Representative in Congress, a Delegate to Congress, or 
        the Resident Commissioner from Puerto Rico; and
          (II) the Secretary of the Senate, in the case of a 
        Senator, an officer or employee of the Congress whose 
        compensation is disbursed by the Secretary of the 
        Senate, an officer or employee of the General 
        Accounting Office, the Office of Technology Assessment, 
        or the Office of the Attending Physician (including any 
        individual terminating service, under section 101(e), 
        in any office or position referred to in this 
        subclause), or an individual described in section 
        101(c) who is a candidate for nomination or election as 
        a Senator; and
          (ii) in the case of an officer or employee of the 
        Congress as described under section 101(f)(10) who is 
        employed by an agency or commission established in the 
        legislative branch after the date of the enactment of 
        the Ethics Reform Act of 1989--
                  (I) the Secretary of the Senate or the Clerk 
                of the House of Representatives, as the case 
                may be, as designated in the statute 
                establishing such agency or commission; or
                  (II) if such statute does not designate such 
                committee, the Secretary of the Senate for 
                agencies and commissions established in even 
                numbered calendar years, and the Clerk of the 
                House of Representatives for agencies and 
                commissions established in odd numbered 
                calendar years; and
          (B) the Judicial Conference with regard to a judicial 
        officer or employee described under paragraphs (11) and 
        (12) of section 101(f) (including individuals 
        terminating service in such office or position under 
        section 101(e) or immediately preceding service in such 
        office or position).
  (2) The date any report is received (and the date of receipt 
of any supplemental report) shall be noted on such report by 
such committee.
  (i)(1) A copy of each report filed under this title by a 
Member or an individual who is a candidate for the office of 
Member shall be sent by the Clerk of the House of 
Representatives or Secretary of the Senate, as the case may be, 
to the appropriate State officer designated under section 
316(a) of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 of the 
State represented by the Member or in which the individual is a 
candidate, as the case may be, within the 30-day period 
beginning on the day the report is filed with the Clerk or 
Secretary.
  (2) The requirements of paragraph (1) do not apply to any 
report filed under this title which is filed electronically and 
for which there is online public access, in accordance with the 
systems developed by the Secretary and Sergeant at Arms of the 
Senate and the Clerk of the House of Representatives under 
section 8(b) of the STOCK Act.
  (j)(1) A copy of each report filed under this title with the 
Clerk of the House of Representatives shall be sent by the 
Clerk to the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct of the 
House of Representatives within the 7-day period beginning on 
the day the report is filed.
  (2) A copy of each report filed under this title with the 
Secretary of the Senate shall be sent by the Secretary to the 
Select Committee on Ethics of the Senate within the 7-day 
period beginning on the day the report is filed.
  (k) In carrying out their responsibilities under this title 
with respect to candidates for office, the Clerk of the House 
of Representatives and the Secretary of the Senate shall avail 
themselves of the assistance of the Federal Election 
Commission. The Commission shall make available to the Clerk 
and the Secretary on a regular basis a complete list of names 
and addresses of all candidates registered with the Commission, 
and shall cooperate and coordinate its candidate information 
and notification program with the Clerk and the Secretary to 
the greatest extent possible.
  (l) Not later than 30 days after receiving notification of 
any transaction required to be reported under section 
102(a)(5)(B), but in no case later than 45 days after such 
transaction, the following persons, if required to file a 
report under any subsection of section 101, subject to any 
waivers and exclusions, shall file a report of the transaction:
          (1) The President.
          (2) The Vice President.
          (3) Each officer or employee in the executive branch, 
        including a special Government employee as defined in 
        section 202 of title 18, United States Code, who 
        occupies a position classified above GS-15 of the 
        General Schedule or, in the case of positions not under 
        the General Schedule, for which the rate of basic pay 
        is equal to or greater than 120 percent of the minimum 
        rate of basic pay payable for GS-15 of the General 
        Schedule; each member of a uniformed service whose pay 
        grade is at or in excess of O-7 under section 201 of 
        title 37, United States Code; and each officer or 
        employee in any other position determined by the 
        Director of the Office of Government Ethics to be of 
        equal classification.
          (4) Each employee appointed pursuant to section 3105 
        of title 5, United States Code.
          (5) Any employee not described in paragraph (3) who 
        is in a position in the executive branch which is 
        excepted from the competitive service by reason of 
        being of a confidential or policymaking character, 
        except that the Director of the Office of Government 
        Ethics may, by regulation, exclude from the application 
        of this paragraph any individual, or group of 
        individuals, who are in such positions, but only in 
        cases in which the Director determines such exclusion 
        would not affect adversely the integrity of the 
        Government or the public's confidence in the integrity 
        of the Government.
          (6) The Postmaster General, the Deputy Postmaster 
        General, each Governor of the Board of Governors of the 
        United States Postal Service and each officer or 
        employee of the United States Postal Service or Postal 
        Regulatory Commission who occupies a position for which 
        the rate of basic pay is equal to or greater than 120 
        percent of the minimum rate of basic pay payable for 
        GS-15 of the General Schedule.
          (7) The Director of the Office of Government Ethics 
        and each designated agency ethics official.
          (8) Any civilian employee not described in paragraph 
        (3), employed in the Executive Office of the President 
        (other than a special government employee) who holds a 
        commission of appointment from the President.
          (9) A Member of Congress[, as defined under section 
        109(12)].
          (10) An officer or employee of the Congress[, as 
        defined under section 109(13)].
          (11) Each judicial officer.

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                CUSTODY OF AND PUBLIC ACCESS TO REPORTS

  Sec. 105. (a) Each agency, each supervising ethics office in 
the executive or judicial branch, the Clerk of the House of 
Representatives, and the Secretary of the Senate shall make 
available to the public, in accordance with subsection (b), 
each report filed under this title with such agency or office 
or with the Clerk or the Secretary of the Senate, except that--
          (1) this section does not require public availability 
        of a report filed by any individual in the Office of 
        the Director of National Intelligence, the Central 
        Intelligence Agency, the Defense Intelligence Agency, 
        the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, or the 
        National Security Agency, or any individual engaged in 
        intelligence activities in any agency of the United 
        States, if the President finds or has found that, due 
        to the nature of the office or position occupied by 
        such individual, public disclosure of such report 
        would, [be revealing] by revealing the identity of the 
        individual or other sensitive information, compromise 
        the national interest of the United States; and such 
        individuals may be authorized, notwithstanding section 
        104(a), to file such additional reports as are 
        necessary to protect their identity from public 
        disclosure if the President first finds or has found 
        that such filing is necessary in the national interest; 
        and
          (2) any report filed by an independent counsel whose 
        identity has not been disclosed by the division of the 
        court under chapter 40 of title 28, United States Code, 
        and any report filed by any person appointed by that 
        independent counsel under such chapter, shall not be 
        made available to the public under this title.
  (b)(1) Except as provided in the second sentence of this 
subsection, each agency, each supervising ethics office in the 
executive or judicial branch, the Clerk of the House of 
Representatives, and the Secretary of the Senate shall, within 
thirty days after any report is received under this title by 
such agency or office or by the Clerk or the Secretary of the 
Senate, as the case may [be,,] be, permit inspection of such 
report by or furnish a copy of such report to any person 
requesting such inspection or copy. With respect to any report 
required to be filed by May 15 of any year, such report shall 
be made available for public inspection within 30 calendar days 
after May 15 of such year or within 30 days of the date of 
filing of such a report for which an extension is granted 
pursuant to section 101(g). The agency, office, Clerk, or 
Secretary of the Senate, as the case [may be may] may be, may 
require a reasonable fee to be paid in any amount which is 
found necessary to recover the cost of reproduction or mailing 
of such report excluding any salary of any employee involved in 
such reproduction or mailing. A copy of such report may be 
furnished without charge or at a reduced charge if it is 
determined that waiver or reduction of the fee is in the public 
interest.
  (2) Notwithstanding paragraph (1), a report may not be made 
available under this section to any person nor may any copy 
thereof be provided under this section to any person except 
upon a written application by such person stating--
          (A) that person's name, occupation and address;
          (B) the name and address of any other person or 
        organization on whose behalf the inspection or copy is 
        requested; and
          (C) that such person is aware of the prohibitions on 
        the obtaining or use of the report.
Any such application shall be made available to the public 
throughout the period during which the report is made available 
to the public.
  (3)(A) This section does not require the immediate and 
unconditional availability of reports filed by an individual 
[described in section 109(8) or 109(10) of this Act] who is a 
judicial officer or a judicial employee if a finding is made by 
the Judicial Conference, in consultation with United States 
Marshals Service, that revealing personal and sensitive 
information could endanger that individual or a family member 
of that individual.
  (B) A report may be redacted pursuant to this paragraph 
only--
          (i) to the extent necessary to protect the individual 
        who filed the report or a family member of that 
        individual; and
          (ii) for as long as the danger to such individual 
        exists.
  (C) The Administrative Office of the United States Courts 
shall submit to the Committees on the Judiciary of the House of 
Representatives and of the Senate and the Senate Committee on 
Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs and the House 
Committee on Oversight and Government Reform an annual report 
with respect to the operation of this paragraph including--
          (i) the total number of reports redacted pursuant to 
        this paragraph;
          (ii) the total number of individuals whose reports 
        have been redacted pursuant to this paragraph;
          (iii) the types of threats against individuals whose 
        reports are redacted, if appropriate;
          (iv) the nature or type of information redacted;
          (v) what steps or procedures are in place to ensure 
        that sufficient information is available to litigants 
        to determine if there is a conflict of interest;
          (vi) principles used to guide implementation of 
        redaction authority; and
          (vii) any public complaints received relating to 
        redaction.
  (D) The Judicial Conference, in consultation with the 
Department of Justice, shall issue regulations setting forth 
the circumstances under which redaction is appropriate under 
this paragraph and the procedures for redaction.
  (E) This paragraph shall expire on December 31, 2027, and 
apply to filings through calendar year 2027.
  (c) Online Publication of Financial Disclosure 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, 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 Administrative 
        Office of the United States Courts shall make the 
        report available on the database established 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)] (d)(1) It shall be unlawful for any person to obtain or 
use a report--
          (A) for any unlawful purpose;
          (B) for any commercial purpose, other than by news 
        and communications media for dissemination to the 
        general public;
          (C) for determining or establishing the credit rating 
        of any individual; or
          (D) for use, directly or indirectly, in the 
        solicitation of money for any political, charitable, or 
        other purpose.
  (2) The Attorney General may bring a civil action against any 
person who obtains or uses a report for any purpose prohibited 
in paragraph (1) of this subsection. The court in which such 
action is brought may assess against such person a penalty in 
any amount not to exceed $10,000. Such remedy shall be in 
addition to any other remedy available under statutory or 
common law.
  [(d)] (e)(1) Any report filed with or transmitted to an 
agency or supervising ethics office or to the Clerk of the 
House of Representatives or the Secretary of the Senate 
pursuant to this title shall be retained by such agency or 
office or by the Clerk of the House of Representatives or the 
Secretary of the Senate, as the case may be.
  (2) Such report shall be made available to the public--
          (A) in the case of a Member of Congress until a date 
        that is 6 years from the date the individual ceases to 
        be a Member of Congress; and
          (B) in the case of all other reports filed pursuant 
        to this title, for a period of 6 years after receipt of 
        the report.
  (3) After the relevant time period identified under paragraph 
(2), the report shall be destroyed unless needed in an ongoing 
investigation, except that in the case of an individual who 
filed the report pursuant to section 101(b) and was not 
subsequently confirmed by the Senate, or who filed the report 
pursuant to section 101(c) and was not subsequently elected, 
such reports shall be destroyed 1 year after the individual 
either is no longer under consideration by the Senate or is no 
longer a candidate for nomination or election to the Office of 
President, Vice President, or as a Member of Congress, unless 
needed in an ongoing investigation or inquiry.

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         CONFIDENTIAL REPORTS AND OTHER ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS

  Sec. 107. (a)(1) Each supervising ethics office may require 
officers and employees under its jurisdiction (including 
special Government employees as defined in section 202 of title 
18, United States Code) to file confidential financial 
disclosure reports, in such form as the supervising ethics 
office may prescribe. The information required to be reported 
under this subsection by the officers and employees of any 
department or agency shall be set forth in rules or regulations 
prescribed by the supervising ethics office, and may be less 
extensive than otherwise required by this title, or more 
extensive when determined by the supervising ethics office to 
be necessary and appropriate in light of sections 202 through 
209 of title 18, United States Code, regulations promulgated 
thereunder, or the authorized activities of such officers or 
employees. Any individual required to file a report pursuant to 
section 101 shall not be required to file a confidential report 
pursuant to this subsection, except with respect to information 
which is more extensive than information otherwise required by 
this title. Subsections (a), (b), [and (d)] and (e) of section 
105 shall not apply with respect to any such report.
  (2) Any information required to be provided by an individual 
under this subsection shall be confidential and shall not be 
disclosed to the public.
  (3) Nothing in this subsection exempts any individual 
otherwise covered by the requirement to file a public financial 
disclosure report under this title from such requirement.
  (b) The provisions of this title requiring the reporting of 
information shall supersede any general requirement under any 
other provision of law or regulation with respect to the 
reporting of information required for purposes of preventing 
conflicts of interest or apparent conflicts of interest. Such 
provisions of this title shall not supersede the requirements 
of section 7342 of title 5, United States Code.
  (c) Nothing in this Act requiring reporting of information 
shall be deemed to authorize the receipt of income, gifts, or 
reimbursements; the holding of assets, liabilities, or 
positions; or the participation in transactions that are 
prohibited by law, Executive order, rule, or regulation.

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