S.Amdt. 4408

The amendment submitted by Mr. Whitehouse, titled the Supreme Court Ethics, Recusal, and Transparency Act of 2026, aims to replace the entire contents of bill S. 1383. Its purpose is to establish strict ethics, disclosure, and disqualification rules for the Supreme Court and other federal judges.

Key changes and additions include:

• Codes of Conduct: It requires the Supreme Court and the Judicial Conference to issue codes of conduct within 180 days and make these rules available on the internet in a searchable and downloadable format.

• Complaint Process: It establishes a system for individuals to file complaints against justices for violating conduct codes or federal law. These complaints are reviewed by a randomly selected judicial investigation panel of five judges.

• Gift and Income Disclosure: It mandates the creation of rules for the acceptance and disclosure of gifts, income, and reimbursements for justices and their law clerks, aligning these standards with the rules used by the House and Senate.

• Disqualification Rules: It adds specific reasons why a judge or justice must be disqualified from a case, such as when a party to the proceeding spent substantial funds to support their appointment or provided gifts/income to the judge, their spouse, or minor child.

• Review of Disqualifications: It creates a process for parties to file motions for disqualification. If a judge does not grant the motion, it is referred to a reviewing panel of three judges (or the Supreme Court, excluding the justice in question).

• Amicus and Party Disclosure: It requires parties and those filing amicus briefs to disclose gifts or lobbying expenditures provided to justices, as well as the identities of major contributors to amicus briefs.

• Accountability and Oversight: It directs the Director of the Federal Judicial Center to conduct biennial studies on compliance with disqualification laws and requires periodic reviews by the Comptroller General of the United States.