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Financial Disclosure and the Supreme Court



Updated November 22, 2023

The Ethics in Government Act of 1978 (EIGA) established financial disclosure reporting requirements for
many  high-level government officials and employees, including the Chief Justice of the United States and
the Associate Justices of the Supreme Court. Supreme Court Justices must file publicly available financial
disclosure statements that report certain financial transactions. Recent media reports regarding the
Justices' compliance with financial disclosure laws have increased interest in Supreme Court ethics and
the interpretation of the EIGA's reporting requirements.
This Legal Sidebar provides an overview of financial disclosure requirements under the EIGA and how
they apply to the judicial branch. It also examines recent statutory and regulatory updates to judicial
branch financial disclosure requirements, including the Supreme Court Code of Conduct released in
November  2023. (While this Sidebar addresses the Code's references to financial disclosure and other
ethics laws, another Sidebar considers the implications of the Code more generally.) The Sidebar
concludes with a discussion of potential congressional action on Supreme Court ethics and highlights
legal considerations regarding Congress's authority to regulate the Supreme Court.

Federal   Financial Disclosure Laws

The EIGA  was enacted, in part, to preserve and promote the integrity of public officials and institutions.
To help achieve this goal, the EIGA requires, among other things, that covered employees file annual
financial disclosure statements reporting:
      income from any source (other than from current employment by the federal government)
       including honoraria; payments made to charity in lieu of honoraria; and any dividends,
       rents, interest, and capital gains that exceed $200;
      gifts and reimbursements (although filers do not have to report gifts received from
       relatives or food, lodging, or entertainment received as personal hospitality of an
       individual);
      interests in property;
      liabilities exceeding $10,000 owed to any creditor other than a close family member
       (with certain exceptions such as mortgages for personal residences);
      transactions that exceed $1,000 in real property (other than a personal residence) and
       securities;
                                                                 Congressional Research Service
                                                                   https://crsreports.congress.gov
                                                                                      LSB10949

CRS Legal Sidebar
Prepared for Members and
Committees of Congress

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