Bill limits how long judges can watch over state and local governments.
H.R. 8365 — Monitor Accountability Act · Filed by Andy Biggs (R-AZ) · 2 cosponsors · Introduced Apr 20, 2026 · Passed chamber
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What it does
The bill sets new rules for monitors. Monitors are people judges pick to watch governments. The bill says monitors can only work for five years. They can only have one job at a time. Courts must tell the public before hiring a monitor. Courts must share how much monitors cost each year. After six years, a new judge takes over the case.
Who it affects
People in cities and states with court-ordered monitors are affected. Taxpayers pay for monitors, so lower fees help them. State and local governments pay monitor fees, so they benefit from lower costs.
One thing to notice
The bill stops judges from keeping the same monitor for more than five years. It also stops judges from staying on a case for more than six years. This might end monitoring before big problems are solved.
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.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the bill text published by Congress.gov (3,046 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 16,778 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 2026-11-01.
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