Bill limits gifts federal judges can accept from one source.
H.R. 9688 — High Court Gift Ban Act · Filed by Jamie Raskin (D-MD) · 41 cosponsors · Introduced Jul 14, 2026 · Referred to committee
Your members of Congress
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What it does
The bill stops federal judges from taking gifts worth more than $50 from one person. Judges also cannot take more than $100 in gifts per year total. Family gifts, degrees from schools, and paid seminars do not count. The Attorney General can punish judges who break this rule with fines or criminal charges.
Who it affects
Federal judges must follow the new gift rules. The Attorney General enforces the rules. People and companies that might give gifts to judges are affected.
One thing to notice
The bill sets the gift limits at $50 and $100. These numbers do not change if prices go up over time.
From the analysis of the bill text, linked under Primary records below.
Where it stands
41 cosponsors: 41 Democrats.
- Jul 14, 2026 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
- Jul 14, 2026 — Referred to House Committee on the Judiciary · Congress.gov: “Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
Words to know
- federal judges — Judges who work for the U.S. government, not state governments.
- Attorney General — The top lawyer for the U.S. government who enforces federal laws.
- fines — Money a person must pay for breaking a rule.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the bill text published by Congress.gov (6,380 characters) on Aug 12, 2026. Section numbers in the findings refer to that text, linked below; transparency and hidden-provision scores are compared against the median of 14,707 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 2026-09-23.
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