Financial Disclosure and the Supreme Court

"The Ethics in Government Act of 1978 (EIGA) established financial disclosure reporting requirements for many high-level government officials and employees, including the Chief Justice of the United States and the Associate Justices of the Supreme Court. Supreme Court Justices must file publicly available financial disclosure statements that report certain financial transactions. A recent article detailing undisclosed trips by an Associate Justice has increased interest in Supreme Court ethics and the interpretation of the EIGA’s reporting requirements.

This Legal Sidebar provides an overview of financial disclosure requirements under the EIGA and how they apply to the judicial branch. It also examines recent statutory and regulatory updates to judicial branch financial disclosure requirements. The Sidebar concludes with a discussion of potential congressional action on Supreme Court ethics and highlights legal considerations regarding Congress’s authority to regulate the Supreme Court.

Federal Financial Disclosure Laws

The EIGA was enacted, in part, to “preserve and promote the integrity of public officials and institutions.” To help achieve this goal, the EIGA requires, among other things, that covered employees file annual financial disclosure statements reporting:
 income from any source (other than from current employment by the federal government) including honoraria; payments made to charity in lieu of honoraria; and any dividends, rents, interest, and capital gains that exceed $200;
 gifts and reimbursements (although filers do not have to report gifts received from relatives or food, lodging, or entertainment “received as personal hospitality of an individual”);
 interests in property;
 liabilities exceeding $10,000 owed to any creditor other than a close family member (with certain exceptions such as mortgages for personal residences);
 transactions that exceed $1,000 in real property (other than a personal residence) and securities;
 positions with outside entities and major sources of compensation;
 agreements or arrangements relating to other employment; and
 qualified blind trusts.

Covered filers must also report certain financial transactions of their spouses and dependent children. These financial disclosure reports assist in identifying real or perceived conflicts of interest held by government officials.

Financial disclosure reports are submitted annually to each individual’s designated agency ethics official, and reports must be made available to the public (unless the covered individual qualifies as a confidential filer). Additionally, under the Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge (STOCK) Act of 2012, certain filers must also submit periodic transaction reports (PTRs). Covered individuals must file PTRs when they, their spouses, or their dependent children make a sale or exchange of a security that exceeds $1,000 within 45 days of the transaction. The PTR requirements do not apply to a “widely held investment fund”—such as a mutual fund—so long as the fund is publicly traded, the assets of the fund are widely diversified, and the reporting individual does not exercise control over the fund..."
Supreme Court and Financial Disclosure