Bill limits how long court monitors can work and what they charge.
H.R. 8365 — Monitor Accountability Act of 2026 · Filed by Andy Biggs (R-AZ) · 2 cosponsors · Introduced Apr 20, 2026 · Passed chamber
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What it does
Federal courts must set rules for court-appointed monitors. Monitors watch state and local governments follow court orders. Monitors can charge only capped fees and work on one case at a time. They serve no more than five years. They cannot be hired again by the same court for the same case. Courts must hold public hearings before hiring a monitor. Courts must publish yearly reports of fees and work. The bill applies to monitors already working. New hires and case moves happen after six years.
Who it affects
Citizens, state governments, and local governments are affected. Court-appointed monitors who oversee government compliance will face new limits. The limits cover fees, time in office, and reappointment. Federal courts must follow new rules when they hire monitors.
One thing to notice
Monitors who have worked on cases for many years may lose their jobs. Courts may have more work to do if they must move many old cases to new monitors.
From the analysis of the bill text, linked under Primary records below.
Where it stands
2 cosponsors: 2 Republicans.
- Apr 20, 2026 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
- Apr 20, 2026 — Referred to House Committee on the Judiciary and Senate Committee on the Judiciary · Congress.gov: “Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary”
- Apr 22, 2026 — Markup held in committee · Congress.gov: “Committee Consideration and Mark-up Session Held”
- Apr 22, 2026 — Reported out of committee · Congress.gov: “Ordered to be Reported (Amended) by the Yeas and Nays: 13 - 11”
- May 14, 2026 — Passed the House · Congress.gov: “On passage Passed by recorded vote: 219 - 204 (Roll no. 173).”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
Words to know
- court-appointed monitors — Officials hired by a judge to check that a government follows a court order.
- compliance — Following a rule or court order.
- capped fees — The highest amount of money a monitor can charge.
- reappointment — Being hired again for the same job.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the bill text published by Congress.gov (2,995 characters) on Jul 9, 2026. Section numbers in the findings refer to that text, linked below; transparency and hidden-provision scores are compared against the median of 14,206 analysed bills.
Status and sponsors — Congress.gov's bill record — actions, committee referrals and cosponsors — loaded nightly. The timeline shows status changes, not every procedural action.
As of — page rendered 2026-09-17.
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