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.

Adam B. Schiff

Democrat · CA · Senator

Source: Congress.gov · FEC

• Jeff Merkley (D-OR)Original· 2026-07-20
• Richard Blumenthal (D-CT)Original· 2026-07-20

Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.

2026-07-20

Source: Congress.gov

The proposal would give the public greater access to court records and documents from federal courts by amending federal law to establish clearer rights about what records people can view and obtain. This would affect anyone involved in federal court cases, journalists reporting on the courts, researchers studying the legal system, and ordinary citizens interested in following what happens in federal courtrooms. The bill is currently under review by the Senate Judiciary Committee.

AI-assisted summary generated from the official bill metadata (title, subjects, actions) sourced from Congress.gov. Cached and reviewed. Always verify against the official text linked below.

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress] [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office] [S. 5033 Introduced in Senate (IS)] <DOC> 119th CONGRESS 2d Session S. 5033 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 SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES July 20, 2026 Mr. Schiff (for himself, Mr. Blumenthal, and Mr. Merkley) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary _______________________________________________________________________ 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. <all>

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