House Passes Issa Legislation to Establish Unprecedented Transparency Measures for Federal Judges

WASHINGTON D.C. - Today, Congressman Darrell Issa (CA-50), Ranking Member for the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Courts, Intellectual Property, and the Internet issued the below statement following the unanimous passage of the Courthouse Ethics and Transparency Act.

“The credibility and confidence in our courts is derived from the fair and unbiased work of our judges, and this makes an impartial and evenhanded judiciary essential to our nation,” said Rep. Issa. “With this legislation, we achieve accountability of the judicial branch that is in line with that of elected officials. It is long overdue.”

The legislation requires that federal judges’ financial disclosure reports be made publicly available online and mandates that federal judges submit periodic reports of securities transactions under the STOCK Act. The bill also amends the Ethics in Government Act of 1978 to:

• Require the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts to create a searchable online database of judicial financial disclosure forms and post those forms within 90 days of being filed, and
• Subject federal judges to the STOCK Act’s requirement of filing periodic transaction reports within 45 days of securities transactions over $1,000.

The Act also preserves the existing ability of judges to request redactions of personal information on financial disclosure reports due to a security concern.

The Courthouse Ethics and Transparency Act is cosponsored by Judiciary Chairman Jerrold Nadler (NY-10), Congressman Chip Roy (TX-21), and Congressman Hank Johnson (GA-4). Companion legislation, S. 3059, was introduced by Senator John Cornyn (TX) and Senator Chris Coons (DE).

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Darrell Issa is the Representative of California’s 50th Congressional District. The District encompasses the central and northeastern parts of San Diego County and a portion of Riverside County, including the communities of Fallbrook, San Marcos, Valley Center, Ramona, Escondido, Santee, Lakeside, El Cajon, Temecula, and the mountain and desert areas of the San Diego-Imperial County line. Issa served as the Chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform from 2011-2015.