Supreme Court Ethics and Investigations Act

S. 3914 would create two new offices within the Supreme Court of the United States. The first, an Office of Ethics Counsel, would provide regular ethics training and advice to justices and their spouses on ethical matters, including disclosure requirements and when to recuse from cases. The second, an Office of Investigative Counsel, would investigate potential instances of ethical impropriety by justices and report findings to Congress.

The bill would allow Congress and the public to submit ethics complaints to the investigative office, which would have 60 days to determine whether a full investigation is warranted. If the investigative office finds violations of the Supreme Court's Code of Conduct or applicable laws, it would submit a report with findings and recommendations to the Chief Justice (or the most senior associate justice if the Chief Justice is the subject of the complaint). The Chief Justice could then choose to release the report to the public, though classified or personally identifiable information could be redacted.

Currently, the Supreme Court lacks an independent enforcement mechanism for its ethics code, unlike the approximately 2,400 federal judges in lower courts who have operated under such a framework for decades. If enacted, this bill would provide the Supreme Court with similar accountability structures and would require the investigative office to report potential federal crimes to the Attorney General.