Courts must decide Nazi-looted art cases on facts, not technicalities.

What it does

This law changes rules for court cases about art stolen during the Holocaust. Courts can no longer throw out these cases for technical reasons. The law applies to cases already in court. It says foreign governments can be sued in U.S. courts for stolen art.

Who it affects

Holocaust survivors and their families can now try to get back stolen art. Museums and foreign governments can no longer use technical defenses to avoid these lawsuits.

One thing to notice

The law applies to cases already pending in court. Some cases already dismissed might be brought back to court.

From the analysis of the bill text, linked under Primary records below.

Where it stands

21 cosponsors: 11 Democrats, 10 Republicans.

• May 22, 2025 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in Senate”
• May 22, 2025 — Referred to Senate Committee on the Judiciary · Congress.gov: “Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary”
• Nov 6, 2025 — Reported out of committee · Congress.gov: “Committee on the Judiciary. Ordered to be reported with amendments favorably”
• Dec 10, 2025 — Passed the Senate · Congress.gov: “Passed Senate with amendments by Unanimous Consent. (consideration: CR S8628-8629; text: CR S8629)”
• Mar 16, 2026 — Passed both chambers · Congress.gov: “On motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill Agreed to by voice vote. (text: CR H2497)”
• Mar 16, 2026 — Floor vote scheduled · Congress.gov: “Ms. Lee (FL) moved to suspend the rules and pass the bill”
• Apr 2, 2026 — Sent to president · Congress.gov: “Presented to President”
• Apr 13, 2026 — Signed into law · Congress.gov: “Became Public Law No: 119-82”

Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.

Money around this bill

4 groups reported lobbying about this bill. They filed 4 reports from Dec 2025 to Jun 2026.

Those reports show $110,000 in lobbying spending. Each report lists about 2 bills. So that money was not all for this bill.

More groups named this bill than 72% of bills with any report.

John Cornyn, who sponsored the bill, received $2,017,484 from PACs for the 2026 election.

• Federal Bar Association — $60,000 in 1 report
• Art Ashes — $30,000 in 1 report
• Art Restitution to Assist Survivors of the Holocaust Emergency Services Fdn. — $20,000 in 1 report
• World Jewish Restitution Organization — $0 in 1 report

Lobbying is legal. These reports show who lobbied about this bill, not what changed.

Words to know

• technical reasons — Legal rules about timing, procedure, or where a case can be heard.
• technical defenses — Legal arguments to dismiss a case without deciding if the claim is true.
• lobbying — Trying to influence lawmakers about a bill. Companies and groups pay people to do this.
• PACs — Groups that collect money and give it to candidates for office.
• sponsored — To sponsor a bill is to introduce it in Congress and put your name on it.