# What the Supreme Court Ethics, Recusal, and Transparency Act Does

This bill creates new ethics rules and oversight procedures for Supreme Court justices, treating them similarly to how other federal judges are already regulated. Right now, Supreme Court justices follow a voluntary ethics code that's less strict than what applies to lower court judges, and there's no formal process for investigating complaints against them. This bill changes that by establishing mandatory ethics standards, creating a way to file complaints, and requiring justices to disclose financial information.

The bill requires the Supreme Court to adopt a formal code of conduct within six months and make it publicly available online. It also establishes new reasons why justices must recuse themselves (step aside from cases). Specifically, justices would have to recuse themselves if they or their family members received gifts or income from parties involved in a case during the previous six years, or if those parties spent money supporting the justice's nomination to the Court. The bill also requires justices to notify all parties in a case if they discover a potential conflict of interest. When a justice refuses to recuse themselves despite these rules, the other justices can review whether that decision was correct.

The bill creates a complaint process where people can formally report ethics violations by justices to a panel of five federal judges from different circuits. This panel would investigate complaints and make recommendations to the Supreme Court, similar to how complaints against other judges are handled. The bill also requires parties in Supreme Court cases to disclose any gifts or financial support they've given to justices, and it requires groups filing "friend of the court" briefs to disclose who funded them. Finally, the bill directs federal agencies to study how well judges are following existing ethics and recusal rules and report back to Congress regularly.