[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 5395 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
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118th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 5395
To amend title 28, United States Code, to establish an Office of Ethics
Counsel and an Office of Investigative Counsel within the Supreme Court
of the United States.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
November 21, 2024
Mr. Booker (for himself, Mr. Blumenthal, Ms. Hirono, Mr. Welch, Ms.
Butler, and Mr. Padilla) introduced the following bill; which was read
twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend title 28, United States Code, to establish an Office of Ethics
Counsel and an Office of Investigative Counsel within the Supreme Court
of the United States.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Supreme Court Ethics and
Investigations Act''.
SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT OF THE OFFICE OF ETHICS COUNSEL WITHIN THE
SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES.
(a) In General.--Chapter 45 of title 28, United States Code, is
amended by adding at the end the following:
``Sec. 678. Office of Ethics Counsel
``(a) The Office of Ethics Counsel.--The Chief Justice is
authorized to establish an Office of Ethics Counsel within the Supreme
Court of the United States--
``(1) constituted by one chief ethics counsel who may
employ such officers and employees, subject to the provisions
of title 5, governing appointments in the competitive service,
and the provisions of chapter 51 and subchapter III of chapter
53 of such title relating to classification and General
Schedule pay rates; and
``(2) to advise and provide guidance to justices of the
Supreme Court, and their spouses, on matters of judicial
ethics, including--
``(A) financial disclosure requirements;
``(B) the acceptance of gifts;
``(C) political activity;
``(D) conflicts of interest and recusal; and
``(E) the unauthorized disclosure of official Court
documents.
``(b) Ethics Counsels.--
``(1) Staffing and compensation of counsels.--
``(A) Chief ethics counsel.--The chief ethics
counsel within the Office of Ethics Counsel--
``(i) may not be employed by the Court on
the date of enactment of this section;
``(ii) shall be appointed by the Chief
Justice;
``(iii) shall serve not more than two 6-
year terms; and
``(iv) shall receive an annual rate of pay
of at least $225,000.
``(B) Other counsels.--Any counsel other than the
chief ethics counsel within the Office of Ethics
Counsel--
``(i) may not be employed by the Court on
the date of enactment of this section;
``(ii) shall be appointed by the chief
ethics counsel;
``(iii) shall serve not more than two 6-
year terms; and
``(iv) shall receive an annual rate of pay
of at least $180,000.
``(2) Qualifications.--Each counsel of the Office of Ethics
Counsel shall--
``(A) be licensed to practice law in a State or
territory of the United States and a member of the bar
in good standing; and
``(B) possess at least 5 years of experience as a
practicing attorney.
``(3) Expertise.--Each counsel shall be an individual of
exceptional public standing who is specifically qualified to
serve within the Office of Ethics Counsel by virtue of the
individual's education, training, and experience, as determined
by the Chief Justice.
``(4) Termination of counsels.--The employment of a counsel
may only be terminated by the Chief Justice for cause.
``(c) Training.--On a biannual basis, the Office of Ethics Counsel
shall provide, and each justice shall take, a training course on the
judicial ethics matters described in subsection (a)(2).
``(d) Report.--On an annual basis, the chief ethics counsel shall
submit to the Committees on the Judiciary of the House of
Representatives and of the Senate a report on the ethics advice given
by the Office of Ethics Counsel during the previous year, including--
``(1) the number of times advice was sought and given;
``(2) whether the advice was sought by judicial officers or
by judicial employees;
``(3) information about the topics covered by the advice
given, including the number of questions related to gifts,
financial disclosures, nonpublic information, and political
activity;
``(4) the number and types of mitigation measures that were
recommended, including recusal, divestiture, resignation; and
``(5) the number of times advice described in this
subsection was not followed by the individual to whom it was
given, if known by the Office.
``(e) Definitions.--In this section:
``(1) The term `gift' means any gratuity, favor, discount,
entertainment, hospitality, loan, forbearance, or other item
having monetary value. The term includes services as well as
gifts of training, transportation, local travel, lodgings and
meals, whether provided in-kind, by purchase of a ticket,
payment in advance, or reimbursement after the expense has been
incurred.
``(2) The term `political activity' means political
engagements, such as paid speaking events, fundraisers, or
donations to political parties, politicians, political action
groups, or endorsements of political candidates.''.
(b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of contents of chapter 45 of
title 28, United States Code, is amended by inserting after the item
relating to section 678 the following:
``678. Office of Ethics Counsel.''.
SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT OF THE OFFICE OF INVESTIGATIVE COUNSEL WITHIN THE
SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES.
(a) In General.--Chapter 45 of title 28, United States Code, as
amended by this Act, is further amended by adding at the end the
following:
``Sec. 679. Office of Investigative Counsel
``(a) Office of Investigative Counsel.--The Chief Justice is
authorized to establish an Office of Investigative Counsel within the
Supreme Court of the United States--
``(1) constituted by one Chief Investigative Counsel and at
least two additional investigative counsels; and
``(2) to review and investigate ethics complaints against
justices arising from their actions or the actions of their
spouses and dependents.
``(b) Investigative Counsels.--
``(1) Staffing and compensation of counsels.--
``(A) Chief investigative counsel.--The Chief
Investigative Counsel--
``(i) may not be employed by the court on
the date of enactment of this section;
``(ii) shall be appointed by the Chief
Justice;
``(iii) shall serve not more than one 6-
year term; and
``(iv) shall receive an annual rate of pay
of at least $225,000.
``(B) Additional investigative counsels.--The
investigative counsels--
``(i) may not be employed by the court on
the date of enactment of this section;
``(ii) shall be appointed by the Chief
Investigative Counsel;
``(iii) shall serve at the pleasure of the
Chief Investigative Counsel; and
``(iv) shall receive an annual rate of pay
of at least $180,000.
``(C) Qualifications.--Each investigative counsel
of the Office of Investigative Counsel shall--
``(i) be licensed to practice law in a
State or territory of the United States and a
member of the bar in good standing; and
``(ii) possess at least 7 years of
experience as a practicing attorney.
``(D) Expertise.--Each investigative counsel and
the Chief Investigative Counsel shall be an individual
of exceptional public standing who is specifically
qualified to serve within the Office of Investigative
Counsel by virtue of the individual's education,
training, and experience.
``(E) Termination of counsels.--The employment of
the Chief Investigative Counsel may only be terminated
by the Chief Justice for cause.
``(2) Subpoena power.--
``(A) In general.--For the discharge of their
duties, the Chief Investigative Counsel shall have the
authority to issue subpoenas to compel witnesses to
appear and testify and to produce books, papers,
correspondence, memoranda, documents, or other relevant
records. The Chief Investigative Counsel may issue
subpoenas requiring the attendance and testimony of
witnesses and the production of any evidence relating
to any matter under investigation by the Office of
Investigative Counsel, which the Office is empowered to
investigate by this section. The attendance of
witnesses and the production of evidence may be
required from any place within the United States at any
designated place of hearing within the United States.
``(B) Failure to obey a subpoena.--If a person
refuses to obey a subpoena issued under subparagraph
(A), the Chief Investigative Counsel may apply to a
United States district court for an order requiring
that person to appear before the Office of
Investigative Counsel to give testimony, produce
evidence, or both, relating to the matter under
investigation. The application may be made within the
judicial district where the hearing is conducted or
where that person is found, resides, or transacts
business. Any failure to obey the order of the court
shall be punishable by contempt of court.
``(C) Service of subpoenas.--The subpoenas of the
Office of Investigative Counsel shall be served in the
manner provided for subpoenas issued by a United States
district court under the Federal Rules of Civil
Procedure for the United States district courts.
``(D) Service of process.--All process of any court
to which application is made under subparagraph (B) may
be served in the judicial district in which the person
required to be served resides or may be found.
``(c) Ethics Complaints.--
``(1) Filing.--An ethics complaint against a justice may be
filed with the Office of Investigate Counsel by--
``(A) the chair or ranking minority member of the
Committee on the Judiciary of the House of
Representatives or of the Senate;
``(B) the majority leader or minority leader of the
Senate; or
``(C) the Speaker or the minority leader of the
House of Representatives.
``(2) Review.--Not later than 60 days after an ethics
complaint is filed under paragraph (1), the Office of
Investigative Counsel shall review the complaint and determine
whether a full investigation is appropriate. In making a
determination under this paragraph, the Office shall consider
whether the alleged behavior of a justice violates the Code of
Conduct of the Supreme Court, the Judicial Code of Conduct, or
any applicable law or regulation. Upon making a determination
under this paragraph, the chief counsel shall respond to each
ethics complaint filed under paragraph (1), regardless of
whether the Office of Investigative Counsel determines that an
investigation is appropriate.
``(3) Investigation.--If the Office determines that a full
investigation is appropriate, it shall open the investigation
not later than 15 days after making such determination.
``(4) Reporting.--
``(A) In general.--The Office of Investigative
Counsel shall submit to the Chief Justice a report
containing its findings and recommendations about an
ethics complaint filed under paragraph (2) (including
in the case of a complaint with respect to which the
Office determines that no violation has occurred),
except that in the case of an ethics complaint with
respect to which the Chief Justice is the subject, the
Office shall deliver such report to the most senior
associate justice.
``(B) Contents.--A report under subparagraph (A)
shall include--
``(i) each violation of the Code of Conduct
for the Supreme Court committed by the justice
who was the subject of the investigation under
paragraph (3), including any such violation
that arose as a result of the actions of a
spouse or dependant of the justice; and
``(ii) substantive and actionable
recommendations from the Office of
Investigative Counsel including recusal,
divestment and neutralization conflicts of
interest, and other remedies.
``(C) Publication.--
``(i) Chief justice.--The Chief Justice
may, in his sole discretion, release to the
public a report received under subparagraph
(A), but may not alter such a report in any
way, except to redact any classified or
personally identifiable information. In the
case of an ethics complaint with respect to
which the Chief Justice is the subject, the
most senior associate justice is authorized to
carry out this clause.
``(ii) Availability to congress.--Not later
than 10 days after completing a report under
subparagraph (A), the Office of Investigative
Counsel shall make the report available to--
``(I) the Committees on the
Judiciary of the House of
Representatives and of the Senate;
``(II) the Committee on Oversight
and Accountability of the House of
Representatives; and
``(III) the Committee on Homeland
Security and Governmental Affairs of
the Senate.
``(iii) Duty to inform the attorney
general.--In carrying out the duties of the
Office, the Investigative Counsel shall report
expeditiously to the Attorney General whenever
the Investigative Counsel has reasonable
grounds to believe there has been a violation
of Federal criminal law.''.
(b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of contents of chapter 45 of
title 28, United States Code, is amended by inserting after the item
relating to section 678, as added by section 2, the following:
``679. Office of Investigative Counsel.''.
SEC. 4. SEVERABILITY.
If any provision of this Act, or any application of such provision
to any person or circumstance, is held to be unconstitutional, the
remainder of this Act and the application of this Act to any other
person or circumstance shall not be affected.
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