A bill to amend chapter 57 of 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.

Sponsor: Christopher Murphy (Democratic-CT)July 23, 2026

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Introduced

In Committee

Passed One Chamber

Passed Both Chambers

Signed into Law

Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.

Creates new ethics rules for federal judges and Supreme Court justices, boosting transparency.

This bill would require all federal judges and Supreme Court justices to follow new codes of conduct. It would also create a new Ethics Investigations Counsel for the Supreme Court to look into potential violations, and make Supreme Court justices publicly explain their decisions to step aside from cases or not.

What Would Change

Today, there isn't a specific law requiring formal codes of conduct for federal judges or Supreme Court justices, nor a dedicated ethics investigator for the Supreme Court. Supreme Court justices are also not explicitly required to publicly explain their recusal decisions. This bill would require these codes within one year, create an Ethics Investigations Counsel for the Supreme Court, and make Supreme Court justices publicly explain their decisions to step aside from cases or not.

Key Provisions

Requires the Judicial Conference to issue a code of conduct for all federal judges within one year of the bill becoming law.
Requires the Supreme Court to issue a code of conduct for its justices within one year of the bill becoming law.
Creates an Ethics Investigations Counsel for the Supreme Court to enforce its code of conduct and investigate potential violations.
Lets the public submit information about potential code of conduct violations by Supreme Court justices to the Ethics Investigations Counsel.
Requires the Ethics Investigations Counsel to release an annual public report on potential violations and how they were handled.
Requires Supreme Court justices to publicly explain why they step aside from a case.

View on Congress.gov

S 5121 · 119th Congress · July 23, 2026 · AI Summary by gemini-2.5-flash · 8/10

A bill to amend chapter 57 of 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.

What Would Change

Key Provisions

Lobbying Activity