PRIA Logo™
119-hr-9784119th Congress

Justice is BLIND Act of 2026

Sponsored By: Representative Johnson, Henry C. "Hank" [D-GA-4]

Introduced

Summary

This bill would require mandatory blind trusts for most federal judges' and their families' financial interests to limit conflicts of interest. It focuses on quick asset transfers, public attestations, and short post-service limits on trust control.

Show full summary
  • Sitting and incoming federal and bankruptcy judges would have to transfer covered financial interests into a qualified blind trust within 90 days after enactment or within 90 days of being sworn in.
  • Spouses and dependent children are subject to the same placement rules, and compensation from a spouse's or dependent child's employer is excluded from the definition of covered financial interest.
  • The Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts must publish attestations within 15 days after a trust is established, the law defines covered interests to include securities, commodities, futures, and derivatives while exempting diversified registered funds and U.S. Treasury securities, and it bars dissolving or controlling the trust for 180 days after a judge leaves office.

Personalized for You

How does this bill affect your finances?

Personalize government policy and PRIA will tell you what this bill means for your household, plus every other piece of legislation we track. PRIA reads each provision against your financial profile to show you exactly what matters to your wallet.

Free to download

Bill Overview

Analyzed Economic Effects

2 provisions identified: 1 benefits, 0 costs, 1 mixed.

Public attestation for blind trusts

This bill would require a judge to file a written attestation within 15 days after establishing a qualified blind trust. The attestation would say either that the trust was established and covered interests placed there, or that neither the judge nor a spouse or dependent child has any covered financial interest. The Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts would publish the attestation on the public searchable ethics database created under the Ethics in Government Act.

Mandatory blind trusts for judges

This bill would require federal justices, judges, magistrate judges, and bankruptcy judges — and their spouses and dependent children — to place covered financial interests into a qualified blind trust. Covered interests would include securities, commodities, futures, and similar synthetic instruments, but would exclude diversified, widely held registered investment funds, U.S. Treasury bills/notes/bonds, and pay a spouse or dependent child receives from their employer. Current judges would have 90 days after enactment to place covered interests into a trust. New judges would have 90 days after being sworn in. The bill would let a spouse or dependent child put assets into a trust established by the judge (and vice versa) so long as the trusts meet the placement rules. The bill would bar dissolving or otherwise controlling the blind trust for 180 days after the judge leaves office. It would also limit the later duty to identify specific instruments inside a qualified blind trust to the trust’s initial assets only.

Sponsors & CoSponsors

Sponsor

Johnson, Henry C. "Hank" [D-GA-4]

GA • D

Cosponsors

  • Rep. Simon, Lateefah [D-CA-12]

    CA • D

    Sponsored 9/28/2026

  • Rep. Kamlager-Dove, Sydney [D-CA-37]

    CA • D

    Sponsored 7/20/2026

  • Rep. Goldman, Daniel S. [D-NY-10]

    NY • D

    Sponsored 7/20/2026

  • Del. Norton, Eleanor Holmes [D-DC-At Large]

    DC • D

    Sponsored 7/20/2026

  • Rep. Ramirez, Delia C. [D-IL-3]

    IL • D

    Sponsored 7/20/2026

  • Rep. Pou, Nellie [D-NJ-9]

    NJ • D

    Sponsored 7/30/2026

Roll Call Votes

No roll call votes available for this bill.

View on Congress.gov
Back to Legislation