Protecting Our Courts from Foreign Manipulation Act

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2675 Introduced in House (IH)]

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119th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2675

   To amend chapter 111 of title 28, United States Code, to increase
 transparency and oversight of third-party funding by foreign persons,
to prohibit third-party funding by foreign states and sovereign wealth
                     funds, and for other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             April 7, 2025

  Mr. Cline introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
                       Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

   To amend chapter 111 of title 28, United States Code, to increase
 transparency and oversight of third-party funding by foreign persons,
to prohibit third-party funding by foreign states and sovereign wealth
                     funds, 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 ``Protecting Our Courts from Foreign
Manipulation Act of 2025''.

SEC. 2. TRANSPARENCY AND LIMITATIONS ON FOREIGN THIRD-PARTY LITIGATION
              FUNDING.

    (a) In General.--Chapter 111 of title 28, United States Code, is
amended by adding at the end the following:
``Sec. 1660. Transparency and limitations on foreign third-party
              litigation funding
    ``(a) Definitions.--In this section--
            ``(1) the term `foreign person'--
                    ``(A) means any person or entity that is not a
                United States person, as defined in section 101 of the
                Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 (50
                U.S.C. 1801); and
                    ``(B) does not include a foreign state or a
                sovereign wealth fund;
            ``(2) the term `foreign state' has the meaning given that
        term in section 1603; and
            ``(3) the term `sovereign wealth fund' means an investment
        fund owned or controlled by a foreign state, an agency or
        instrumentality of a foreign state (as defined in section
        1603), or an agent of a foreign principal (as defined in
        section 1 of the Foreign Agents Registration Act of 1938, as
        amended (22 U.S.C. 611)).
    ``(b) Disclosure of Third-Party Litigation Funding and Foreign
Source Certification by Foreign Persons, Foreign States, and Sovereign
Wealth Funds.--
            ``(1) In general.--In any civil action, each party or the
        counsel of record for the party shall--
                    ``(A) disclose in writing to the court, to all
                other named parties to the civil action, to the
                Attorney General, and to the Principal Deputy Assistant
                Attorney General for National Security--
                            ``(i) the name, the address, and, if
                        applicable, the citizenship or the country of
                        incorporation or registration of any foreign
                        person, foreign state, or sovereign wealth
                        fund, other than the named parties or counsel
                        of record, that has a right to receive any
                        payment that is contingent in any respect on
                        the outcome of the civil action by settlement,
                        judgment, or otherwise;
                            ``(ii) the name, the address, and, if
                        applicable, the citizenship or the country of
                        incorporation or registration of any foreign
                        person, foreign state, or sovereign wealth
                        fund, other than the named parties or counsel
                        of record, that has a right to receive any
                        payment that is contingent in any respect on
                        the outcome of any matter within a portfolio
                        that includes the civil action and involves the
                        same counsel of record or affiliated counsel;
                        and
                            ``(iii) if the party or the counsel of
                        record for the party submits a certification
                        described in subparagraph (C)(i), the name, the
                        address, and, if applicable, the citizenship or
                        the country of incorporation or registration of
                        the foreign person, foreign state, or sovereign
                        wealth fund that is the source of the money;
                    ``(B) produce to the court, to all other named
                parties to the civil action, to the Attorney General,
                and to the Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General
                for National Security, except as otherwise stipulated
                or ordered by the court, a copy of any agreement
                creating a contingent right described in subparagraph
                (A); and
                    ``(C) for a civil action involving an agreement
                creating a right to receive any payment by anyone,
                other than the named parties or counsel of record, that
                is contingent in any respect on the outcome of the
                civil action by settlement, judgment, or otherwise, or
                on the outcome of any matter within a portfolio that
                includes the civil action and involves the same counsel
                or affiliated counsel, submit to the court a
                certification that--
                            ``(i) the money that has been or will be
                        used to satisfy any term of the agreement has
                        been or will be directly or indirectly sourced,
                        in whole or in part, from a foreign person,
                        foreign state, or sovereign wealth fund,
                        including the monetary amounts that have been
                        or will be used to satisfy the agreement; or
                            ``(ii) that the disclosure and
                        certification criteria set forth in
                        subparagraph (A)(iii) and clause (i) of this
                        subparagraph do not apply to the civil action.
            ``(2) Timing.--
                    ``(A) In general.--The disclosure and certification
                required by paragraph (1) shall be made not later than
                the later of--
                            ``(i) 30 days after execution of any
                        agreement described in paragraph (1); or
                            ``(ii) the date on which the civil action
                        is filed.
                    ``(B) Parties served or joined later.--A party that
                enters into an agreement described in paragraph (1)
                that is first served or joined after the date on which
                the civil action is filed shall make the disclosure and
                certification required by paragraph (1) not later than
                30 days after being served or joined, unless a
                different time is set by stipulation or court order.
            ``(3) Foreign source disclosure and certification format.--
                    ``(A) In general.--A disclosure required under
                paragraph (1)(A) and a certification required under
                paragraph (1)(C) shall--
                            ``(i) be made in the form of a declaration
                        under penalty of perjury pursuant to section
                        1746 and shall be made to the best knowledge,
                        information, and belief of the declarant formed
                        after reasonable inquiry; and
                            ``(ii) be provided to all other named
                        parties to the civil action, to the Attorney
                        General, and to the Principal Deputy Assistant
                        Attorney General for National Security by the
                        party or counsel of record for the party making
                        the disclosure and certification, except as
                        otherwise stipulated or ordered by the court.
                    ``(B) Supplementation and correction.--Not later
                than 30 days after the date on which a party or counsel
                of record for the party knew or should have known that
                the disclosure required under paragraph (1)(A) or a
                certification required under paragraph (1)(C) is
                incomplete or inaccurate in any material respect, the
                party or counsel of record shall supplement or correct
                the disclosure or certification.
    ``(c) Prohibition on Third-Party Funding Litigation by Foreign
States and Sovereign Wealth Funds.--
            ``(1) In general.--It shall be unlawful for any party to or
        counsel of record for a civil action to enter into an agreement
        creating a right for anyone, other than the named parties or
        counsel of record, to receive any payment that is contingent in
        any respect on the outcome of a civil action or any matter
        within a portfolio that includes the civil action and involves
        the same counsel of record or affiliated counsel, the terms of
        which are to be satisfied by money that has been or will be
        directly or indirectly sourced, in whole or in part, from a
        foreign state or a sovereign wealth fund.
            ``(2) Enforcement.--Any agreement entered in violation of
        paragraph (1) shall be null and void.
    ``(d) Failure To Disclose, To Supplement; Sanctions.--A disclosure,
production, or certification under subsection (b) is deemed to be
information required by rule 26(a) of the Federal Rules of Civil
Procedure and subject to the sanctions provisions of rule 37 of the
Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.''.
    (b) Technical and Conforming Amendment.--The table of sections
chapter 111 of title 28, United States Code, is amended by adding at
the end the following:

``1660. Transparency and limitations on foreign third-party litigation
                            funding.''.

SEC. 3. REPORT TO CONGRESS.

    Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, and
annually thereafter, the Attorney General shall submit to the Committee
on the Judiciary of the Senate and the Committee on the Judiciary of
the House of Representatives a report on the activities involving
foreign third-party litigation funding in Federal courts, including, if
applicable--
            (1) the identities of foreign third-party litigation
        funders in Federal courts, including names, addresses, and
        citizenship or country of incorporation or registration;
            (2) the identities of foreign persons, foreign states, or
        sovereign wealth funds (as such terms are defined in section
        1660 of title 28, United States Code, as added by section 2 of
        this Act) that have been the sources of money for third-party
        litigation funding in Federal courts;
            (3) the judicial districts in which foreign third-party
        litigation funding has occurred;
            (4) an estimate of the total amount of foreign-sourced
        money used for third-party litigation funding in Federal
        courts, including an estimate of the amount of such money
        sourced from each country; and
            (5) a summary of the subject matters of the civil actions
        in Federal courts for which foreign sourced money has been used
        for third-party litigation funding.

SEC. 4. APPLICABILITY.

    The amendments made by this Act shall apply to any civil action
pending on or commenced on or after the date of enactment of this Act.
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