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
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:
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.