H.R. 5720 · 117th Congress

Courthouse Ethics and Transparency Act

Introduced on Oct 25, 2021 by Deborah K. Ross (D-NC-2). 7 cosponsors, 3 of them from another party. Latest action (Dec 2, 2021): Received in the Senate.

Stage
Passed one chamber
Introduced
Oct 25, 2021
Cosponsors
7
3 from the other party
Policy area
Law
Open in the Congress explorerCongress.govAlert me

Progress

The furthest stage the measure reached. Simple and concurrent resolutions do not go to the President.

  1. Introduced
  2. Reported by committee
  3. Passed one chamber
  4. 4Passed both chambers
  5. 5Sent to the President
  6. 6Became law

Official title

To amend the Ethics in Government Act of 1978 to provide for a periodic transaction reporting requirement for Federal judicial officers and the online publication of financial disclosure reports of Federal judicial officers, and for other purposes.

Subjects

  • Financial services and investments
  • Government ethics and transparency, public corruption
  • Government information and archives
  • Judges
  • Judicial procedure and administration
  • Securities

Summary

By the Congressional Research Service (Passed House, Dec 1, 2021). Public domain.

Courthouse Ethics and Transparency Act

This bill requires federal judicial officers to file periodic transaction reports disclosing certain securities transactions. The bill also requires online publication of judicial financial disclosure reports.

Specifically, the bill requires federal judicial officers to file reports within 45 days after a purchase, sale, or exchange that exceeds $1,000 in stocks, bonds, commodities futures, and other forms of securities.

Additionally, the bill directs the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts to establish a searchable internet database of judicial financial disclosure reports. The office must, within 90 days of the date by which a report must be filed, make the report available on the database in a searchable, sortable, and downloadable format.

The bill does not require the immediate and unconditional availability of reports filed by a judicial officer or employee if the Judicial Conference finds that revealing personal and sensitive formation could endanger that individual or a family member of that individual.

Sponsor and cosponsors

Cosponsors by party as of the day they signed on. Original cosponsors signed on the day of introduction.

Deborah K. RossD-NC-2Sponsor

Democrats · 4

Republicans · 3

Roll calls

Recorded votes on the measure. Most measures move by voice vote or unanimous consent, which record no individual positions.

  1. On Motion to Suspend the Rules and Pass, as Amended
    Dec 1, 2021· House· Passage· Passed 422–4

History

Every action as published, oldest first. Roll calls link to how each member voted.

  1. Oct 25, 2021Introduced in House
  2. Oct 25, 2021Introduced in House
  3. Oct 25, 2021 · HouseReferred to the House Committee on the Judiciary.
  4. Nov 17, 2021 · HouseCommittee Consideration and Mark-up Session Held.
  5. Nov 17, 2021 · HouseOrdered to be Reported (Amended) by Voice Vote.
  6. Dec 1, 2021Reported (Amended) by the Committee on Judiciary. H. Rept. 117-199.
  7. Dec 1, 2021 · HouseReported (Amended) by the Committee on Judiciary. H. Rept. 117-199.
  8. Dec 1, 2021 · HousePlaced on the Union Calendar, Calendar No. 143.
  9. Dec 1, 2021 · HouseMr. Nadler moved to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended.
  10. Dec 1, 2021 · HouseConsidered under suspension of the rules.
  11. Dec 1, 2021 · HouseDEBATE - The House proceeded with forty minutes of debate on H.R. 5720.
  12. Dec 1, 2021 · HouseAt the conclusion of debate, the Yeas and Nays were demanded and ordered. Pursuant to the provisions of clause 8, rule XX, the Chair announced that further proceedings on the motion would be postponed.
  13. Dec 1, 2021 · HouseConsidered as unfinished business.
  14. Dec 1, 2021Passed/agreed to in House: On motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended Agreed to by the Yeas and Nays (2/3 required): 422 - 4 (Roll No. 392).House · Roll call 392
  15. Dec 1, 2021 · HouseOn motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended Agreed to by the Yeas and Nays (2/3 required): 422 - 4 (Roll No. 392).House · Roll call 392
  16. Dec 1, 2021 · HouseMotion to reconsider laid on the table Agreed to without objection.
  17. Dec 2, 2021 · SenateReceived in the Senate.

Committees

Committees and subcommittees the measure was referred to.

Agencies in its committees' jurisdiction

Analisa's mapping of committee jurisdiction to federal agencies; the bill may touch others, or none of these.

Sources and method

Every figure on this page traces to these records.

  • Bill status: bills and resolutions, sponsors, actions, subjects and CRS summaries (U.S. Government Publishing Office (GovInfo), from Congress.gov (Library of Congress))GovInfo Bill Status bulk data (Congress.gov; summaries by the Congressional Research Service) · data current to Oct 3, 2026 · loaded Oct 3, 2026 · license: Public domain (U.S. Government work, 17 U.S.C. § 105)
  • Members of Congress, their terms, committees and identifiers (The @unitedstates project (from the Biographical Directory of the U.S. Congress, the House and the Senate))unitedstates/congress-legislators: legislators, committees and current committee membership · data current to Oct 3, 2026 · loaded Oct 3, 2026 · license: CC0 1.0 (public domain dedication)
  • House roll-call votes (Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives)Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives, roll-call vote records · data current to Oct 3, 2026 · loaded Oct 3, 2026 · license: Public domain (U.S. Government work, 17 U.S.C. § 105)
  • Senate roll-call votes and DW-NOMINATE scores (Voteview (UCLA Department of Political Science))Lewis, Jeffrey B., Keith Poole, Howard Rosenthal, Adam Boche, Aaron Rudkin, and Luke Sonnet (2026). Voteview: Congressional Roll-Call Votes Database. https://voteview.com/ · data current to Oct 3, 2026 · loaded Oct 3, 2026 · license: Free to use with the required citation
  • Lobbying disclosures (LD-1 registrations, LD-2 quarterly reports, LD-203 contribution reports) (Clerk of the U.S. House of Representatives)Clerk of the House, Lobbying Disclosure Act filings (organizations only; lobbyists' names are not loaded) · data current to Oct 6, 2026 · loaded Oct 6, 2026 · license: Public domain (U.S. Government work, 17 U.S.C. § 105)
  • Positions are shown only where a roll call recorded them; voice votes and unanimous consent record none.