HR 9408 Re-checks Congress.gov for new actions and updates the bill's status, and fills in any sponsors, committees, or related bills that are missing. It does not re-pull sponsors/cosponsors/committees/related — those rarely change — and it skips all work if nothing has changed upstream, so it's cheap to click.
To amend chapter 15 of title 28, United States Code, with respect to documentation requirements for a meeting of certain conferences and councils.
Summary
- Requires the Judicial Conference to publish notice of meetings at least 30 days in advance, including the date, time, place, and agenda, with an exception for good cause if an explanation is provided.
- Requires all covered meetings of judicial conferences and councils to provide live audio streaming accessible to the public without charge or registration.
- Requires the Judicial Conference to maintain an archive of each live audio stream and publish it on the Judicial Conference website within 7 days of the meeting, accessible without charge or registration.
- Allows a conference or council to resolve into a closed session when publication is prohibited by law or by majority vote for sensitive or confidential matters, provided the reason for the closed session is stated.
AI-generated plain-language summary of the bill text — neutral, and may be imperfect. See the full text below for the exact wording.
Sponsor (1)
10 cosponsors
- Del. Norton, Eleanor Holmes [D-DC-At Large] (D-DC)
- Rep. Carson, André [D-IN-7] (D-IN)
- Rep. Cohen, Steve [D-TN-9] (D-TN)
- Rep. Deluzio, Christopher R. [D-PA-17] (D-PA)
- Rep. Evans, Dwight [D-PA-3] (D-PA)
- Rep. García, Jesús G. "Chuy" [D-IL-4] (D-IL)
- Rep. Krishnamoorthi, Raja [D-IL-8] (D-IL)
- Rep. Lee, Summer L. [D-PA-12] (D-PA)
- Rep. Ramirez, Delia C. [D-IL-3] (D-IL)
- Rep. Thanedar, Shri [D-MI-13] (D-MI)
Money behind the sponsor
Top reported contributors to Henry C. "Hank" Johnson’s campaign committee (2024 cycle) — who funds the bill’s sponsor, not a claim about this bill. Data from FEC.
- GREGORY B. LEVETT FUNERAL HOME $3,300
- FORBES TATE $3,300
- RICELAND HEALTHCARE $3,300
- BEY & ASSOCIATES $3,300
- BENCHMARK MANAGEMENT $3,300
Organizations whose employees gave the most — itemized individual contributions grouped by the donor’s reported employer (FEC Schedule A). Full finance for Henry C. "Hank" Johnson → · Outside spending →
Actions (2)
- Jun 23, 2026 Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary. · house
- Jun 23, 2026 Introduced in House
Similar bills (6)
Bills with similar text or summary — includes reintroductions across Congresses. Ranked by semantic similarity of the bill text (computed locally); a neutral discovery aid, not a claim the bills are duplicates.
Full text
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
June 23, 2026
Mr. Johnson of Georgia (for himself, Mr. Cohen, Mr. Deluzio, Mr. Krishnamoorthi, Ms. Norton, Mrs. Ramirez, and Mr. Thanedar) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary
A BILL
To amend chapter 15 of title 28, United States Code, with respect to documentation requirements for a meeting of certain conferences and councils.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the “Open Meetings Act of 2026”.
SEC. 2. DOCUMENTATION REQUIREMENT FOR MEETING OF CERTAIN CONFERENCES AND COUNCILS.
(a) In General.—Chapter 15 of title 28, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following: “Sec. 336. Documentation requirement for meeting of certain conferences and councils
“(a) Definition.—In this section, the term ‘covered meeting’ means a meeting of a conference or council undertaken pursuant to this chapter.
“(b) Notice Requirement.—
“(1) In general.—Not later than 30 days before a covered meeting, the Judicial Conference shall publish notice of the covered meeting on the internet website of the Judicial Conference, including the date, time, place, and agenda of the covered meeting.
“(2) Exception.—The Judicial Conference may waive for good cause the requirement under paragraph (1). If the Judicial Conference waives the requirement under paragraph (1), the Judicial Conference shall publish an explanation for why the requirement was not met on the internet website of the Judicial Conference.
“(c) Live Audio Streaming Requirement.—
“(1) In general.—Each covered meeting shall provide live audio streaming, accessible to the public without charge or registration.
“(2) Record.—The Judicial Conference shall maintain an archive of each live audio stream provided pursuant to paragraph (1).
“(3) Publication.—Not later than 7 days after the date of a covered meeting, the Judicial Conference shall publish on the internet website of the Judicial Conference an archive of the live audio stream required under paragraph (1) in a manner that is accessible to the public without charge or registration.
“(4) Exception.—
“(A) In general.—During each covered meeting, the conference or council—
“(i) shall resolve into a closed session when publication of the matter at issue is prohibited by law; or
“(ii) may, by a majority vote, resolve into a closed session as determined appropriate by the conference or council for consideration of a sensitive or confidential matter.
“(B) Statement.—Prior to resolving into a closed session under subparagraph (A), the conference or council shall state the reason for so resolving.”.
(b) Clerical Amendment.—The table of sections for chapter 15 of title 28, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following:
“336. Documentation requirement for meeting of certain conferences and councils.”. <all>
Comments