H.R. 9784: Justice is Beneficial Limitation on Investments and Necessary Disclosure Act of 2026

This bill would require federal judges, justices, magistrate judges, and bankruptcy judges to move certain investments into qualified blind trusts, along with the same types of investments held by their spouses and dependent children.

What assets would be covered

The bill applies to covered financial interests, which generally include:

• Stocks and other securities
• Commodities
• Futures
• Similar investments held indirectly through derivatives or other synthetic financial products

It would not apply to some types of holdings, including:

• Widely held, diversified investment funds that are registered investment companies
• U.S. Treasury bills, notes, and bonds
• Compensation earned by a spouse or dependent child from their employer

What judges and their families would have to do

If the bill became law, a sitting covered judge or justice would have to place any covered financial interests into a qualified blind trust within 90 days after enactment. A newly appointed judge or justice would have to do the same within 90 days after taking office.

The rule would also apply to spouses and dependent children. The bill would allow family members to place their covered assets into a blind trust established by the judge, and it would also allow the judge to place assets into a trust established by a spouse.

How the blind trust requirement would work

A qualified blind trust is a trust arrangement designed so the official does not know, and does not manage, the specific investments held in it. The bill also says that once the assets are placed into a blind trust, the judge or justice could not dissolve that trust or otherwise control the covered financial interests until 180 days after leaving judicial office.

Disclosure and reporting

After setting up a blind trust, the judge would have to provide a written attestation within 15 days saying either:

• the trust has been established and the covered financial interests were placed into it, or
• the judge, spouse, and dependent children do not have any covered financial interests

The Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts would have to post those attestations on the existing searchable public database used for ethics disclosures.

Other provisions

The bill includes a severability clause, which means that if part of the law were struck down by a court, the rest would still remain in effect if possible.

Relevant Companies

• None found