This legislation amends title 28 of the United States Code to enhance financial transparency and prevent conflicts of interest for federal judicial officers. It mandates that justices, judges, magistrate judges, and bankruptcy judges, as well as their spouses and dependent children, place specific financial assets into qualified blind trusts . The bill defines "covered financial interests" to include securities, commodities, and futures, but explicitly excludes widely held diversified investment funds, U.S. Treasury securities, and compensation received by a spouse or dependent child from their employer. Current judicial officers must comply within 90 days of the bill's enactment, while new appointees have 90 days from their swearing-in date. Furthermore, these blind trusts cannot be dissolved, nor can the assets be controlled, until 180 days after the judge ceases to hold office. To ensure accountability, judges must provide a written attestation within 15 days of establishing a trust, confirming that all covered financial interests have been placed within it, or attest that they possess no such interests. These attestations will be made publicly available through a searchable online database maintained by the Administrative Office of the United States Courts.
This legislation amends title 28 of the United States Code to enhance financial transparency and prevent conflicts of interest for federal judicial officers. It mandates that justices, judges, magistrate judges, and bankruptcy judges, as well as their spouses and dependent children, place specific financial assets into qualified blind trusts . The bill defines "covered financial interests" to include securities, commodities, and futures, but explicitly excludes widely held diversified investment funds, U.S. Treasury securities, and compensation received by a spouse or dependent child from their employer. Current judicial officers must comply within 90 days of the bill's enactment, while new appointees have 90 days from their swearing-in date. Furthermore, these blind trusts cannot be dissolved, nor can the assets be controlled, until 180 days after the judge ceases to hold office. To ensure accountability, judges must provide a written attestation within 15 days of establishing a trust, confirming that all covered financial interests have been placed within it, or attest that they possess no such interests. These attestations will be made publicly available through a searchable online database maintained by the Administrative Office of the United States Courts.