Judicial FOIA Expansion Act

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 9778 Introduced in House (IH)]

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119th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 9778

   To amend title 5, United States Code, to create a right of public
access to certain records relating to the courts of the United States,
                        and for other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             July 20, 2026

   Mr. Goldman of New York (for himself, Mr. Johnson of Georgia, Ms.
 Kamlager-Dove, Ms. Norton, and Mrs. Ramirez) introduced the following
 bill; which was referred to the Committee on Oversight and Government
                                 Reform

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

   To amend title 5, United States Code, to create a right of public
access to certain records relating to the courts of the United States,
                        and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Judicial FOIA Expansion Act''.

SEC. 2. APPLICATION OF THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT AND THE PRIVACY
              ACT TO THE JUDICIARY.

    (a) Amendments.--Title 5, United States Code, is amended--
            (1) in section 551--
                    (A) in paragraph (1)(B), by inserting after ``the
                courts of the United States'' the following: ``, except
                for purposes of sections 552 and 552a'';
                    (B) in paragraph (13), by striking ``; and'' and
                inserting a semicolon;
                    (C) in paragraph (14), by striking the period at
                the end and inserting ``; and''; and
                    (D) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(15) `court of the United States'--
                    ``(A) means--
                            ``(i) a court or other entity in the
                        judicial branch, including the Supreme Court of
                        the United States, the United States Court of
                        Appeals for the Federal Circuit, the United
                        States Court of International Trade, the United
                        States courts of appeals, the United States
                        district courts, the Administrative Office of
                        the United States Courts, the Federal Judicial
                        Center, the United States Sentencing
                        Commission, and Federal defender organizations;
                        and
                            ``(ii) an entity that provides security or
                        protective services for a Federal courthouse,
                        or for an officer or employee of the judicial
                        branch; and
                    ``(B) does not include the Foreign Intelligence
                Surveillance Court.''; and
            (2) by inserting after section 552b the following:
``Sec. 552c. Applicability to the courts of the United States
    ``(a) Applicability of Section 552.--
            ``(1) In general.--In addition to the requirements under
        section 552, the following types of information are subject to
        a record request with respect to the courts of the United
        States:
                    ``(A) Any record of attorney disciplinary
                proceeding or sanction, excluding any case record
                relating to the deliberation of the disciplinary
                hearing in accordance with paragraph (2)(A).
                    ``(B) Any complaint, investigation, and order
                against a judge or other court personnel.
                    ``(C) Meeting calendars and minutes of the Federal
                Judicial Conference and the membership list for each
                committee.
                    ``(D) Research and educational material produced by
                the Federal Judicial Center.
                    ``(E) Any completed jury selection form.
                    ``(F) Any performance report for a judge or
                personnel.
                    ``(G) Any technical audit or update plan for PACER.
                    ``(H) Any annual report to Congress, including each
                committee and subcommittee of Congress.
            ``(2) Exemptions.--In addition to the matters described
        under section 552(b), section 552 does not apply to the
        following with respect to the courts of the United States:
                    ``(A) Any matter relating to an ongoing case.
                    ``(B) Any information not in the possession of the
                courts of the United States.
            ``(3) Machine-readability.--Any information published or
        provided under section 552 or 552a by a court of the United
        States shall be machine-readable (as such term is defined in
        section 3502 of title 44).
    ``(b) Representation.--The Attorney General shall represent a court
of the United States in any claim brought under section 552 or section
552a.''.
    (b) Rule of Construction.--Nothing in this section, or any
amendment made by this section, may be construed as displacing the
common law right of public access to judicial records.
    (c) Authorization of Appropriations.--There is authorized to be
appropriated $10,000,000 for fiscal year 2027 to meet the requirements
of this Act, including the creation of an office to meet such
requirements within the Administrative Office of the United States
Courts.
    (d) Severability.--If any provision of this Act, or the application
thereof, is held invalid, the validity of the remainder of this Act and
the application of such provision to other persons and circumstances
shall not be affected thereby.
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