Federal judges must put stocks in blind trusts to avoid bias.
H.R. 9784 — Justice is BLIND Act of 2026 · Filed by Hank Johnson (D-GA) · 6 cosponsors · Introduced Jul 20, 2026 · Referred to committee
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What it does
The bill requires federal judges to put stocks into blind trusts. They have 90 days to do this. Their spouses and kids must do the same. A blind trust means the judge cannot know what is held. The bill exempts widely spread mutual funds, Treasury bonds, and spousal work income. Judges must write that they have complied. These statements go on a public database.
Who it affects
Federal judges, their spouses, and kids must follow the rule. Citizens depend on judges to decide cases fairly without money bias.
One thing to notice
Spouses and kids must put their money in blind trusts too. Public records will show which judges have complied.
From the analysis of the bill text, linked under Primary records below.
Where it stands
6 cosponsors: 6 Democrats.
- Jul 20, 2026 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
- Jul 20, 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
- blind trust — An account where a judge's money is invested but the judge cannot know what is held.
- federal judges — Judges who work for the U.S. government, including Supreme Court justices and other court judges.
- widely spread mutual funds — Funds that hold many different stocks so no single company has much effect.
- Treasury bonds — Loans to the U.S. government that pay back money with interest over time.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the bill text published by Congress.gov (5,392 characters) on Oct 21, 2026. Section numbers in the findings refer to that text, linked below; transparency and hidden-provision scores are compared against the median of 16,388 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 2026-10-21.
“Federal judges must put stocks in blind trusts to avoid bias.” QuorumCivic. https://share.quorumcivic.app/bill/119/hr9784/simple Report an error
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