HR3513-119

What This Bill Does

The Supreme Court Ethics, Recusal, and Transparency Act of 2025 adds a detailed ethics regime for the federal judiciary. Within 180 days, the Supreme Court must issue a code of conduct for justices, and the Judicial Conference must issue a code for lower federal judges, after public notice and comment. The Supreme Court must publish searchable, sortable, downloadable ethics rules online. It must create complaint procedures for allegations that a justice violated the code, section 455, other federal law, or otherwise undermined Court integrity; complaints go to a five-judge investigation panel randomly selected from circuit chief judges, with investigative authority, subpoenas, findings, recommendations, and public reports when dismissal is not recommended. The bill requires minimum gift, income, and reimbursement disclosure standards for justices and law clerks comparable to House and Senate rules. It expands disqualification triggers when a party or affiliate made lobbying contacts or spent substantial funds supporting a judge's nomination, confirmation, or appointment, or when the justice or judge, spouse, minor child, or privately held entity received income, gifts, or reimbursements from a party or affiliate within a six-year window. It requires immediate notice to parties of potential disqualification conditions and online publication of disqualification reasons. It creates review panels for certified disqualification motions, with the Supreme Court excluding the challenged justice for motions involving justices. Parties and amici before the Supreme Court must disclose gifts, income, reimbursements, lobbying contacts, and confirmation expenditures connected to justices. Amici in federal courts must disclose brief contributors, major revenue contributors, and donors over $100,000, with annual AO audits. The Court and Judicial Conference must prohibit or strike amicus briefs that would require disqualification, and the Federal Judicial Center must conduct recurring studies and reports on compliance and conflict records.

Who Benefits and How

Litigants benefit from enforceable complaint, recusal, and disqualification-review procedures. The public benefits from searchable Supreme Court ethics rules, disqualification explanations, and amicus funding disclosures. Judicial ethics watchdogs benefit from complaint procedures, investigation panels, and recurring Federal Judicial Center reports. Lower federal courts benefit from clearer code-of-conduct and amicus-conflict rules issued by the Judicial Conference.

Who Bears the Burden and How

Supreme Court justices face a binding code, complaint investigations, broader recusal triggers, gift rules, and party-disclosure scrutiny. Judicial Conference staff must issue lower-court conduct codes and amicus-conflict rules. Parties in Supreme Court litigation must disclose justice-related gifts, income, reimbursements, lobbying contacts, and confirmation spending. Amicus organizations must disclose contributors and large donors and face audits. Federal Judicial Center staff must maintain conflict records and submit recurring studies to Congress.

Key Provisions

• Requires Supreme Court and lower-court codes of conduct within 180 days.
• Creates Supreme Court complaint procedures and five-judge investigation panels selected from circuit chief judges.
• Requires public searchable ethics rules and minimum gift, income, and reimbursement standards for justices and law clerks.
• Expands judicial disqualification triggers tied to lobbying, confirmation spending, income, gifts, and reimbursements.
• Creates review panels for certified disqualification motions and requires stays pending final determination.
• Requires party, amicus, contributor, and donor disclosures in Supreme Court and federal-court filings.
• Requires amicus-conflict rules, annual audits, and recurring Federal Judicial Center compliance reports.