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[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 10558 Introduced in House (IH)]
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119th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 10558
To amend title 31, United States Code, to require additional
transparency with respect to the Judgment Fund, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
September 24, 2026
Ms. Hageman introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on the Judiciary
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend title 31, United States Code, to require additional
transparency with respect to the Judgment Fund, and for other purposes.
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 ``Clearer Liability Expenditure and
Access to Reporting Act of 2026'' or the ``CLEAR Act''.
SEC. 2. ADDITIONAL TRANSPARENCY FOR JUDGMENT FUND PAYMENTS.
Section 1304 of title 31, United States Code, is amended--
(1) by amending subsection (d) to read as follows:
``(d)(1) Beginning not later than the date that is 60 days after
the date of enactment of the John D. Dingell, Jr. Conservation,
Management, and Recreation Act, and unless the disclosure of such
information is otherwise prohibited by law or a court order, the
Secretary of the Treasury shall make available to the public on a
website, as soon as practicable, but not later than 30 days after the
date on which a payment under this section is tendered, the following
information with regard to that payment:
``(A) The name of the specific agency or entity whose
actions gave rise to the claim or judgment.
``(B) The name of the plaintiff or claimant.
``(C) The name of counsel for the plaintiff or claimant.
``(D) The amount paid representing principal liability, and
any amounts paid representing any ancillary liability,
including attorney fees, costs, and interest.
``(E) A brief description of the facts that gave rise to
the claim.
``(F) The name of the agency that submitted the claim.
``(2) In addition to the information described in paragraph (1),
the Secretary shall ensure that the website tabulates the total number
of payments per month, including how many payments were settlements,
which shall be searchable by the following categories:
``(A) Each specific agency or entity whose actions resulted
in a payment.
``(B) Each plaintiff or claimant.
``(C) Each counsel, including identifying the counsel's
firm or office, for each plaintiff or claimant.
``(3) Each category described in subsection (d)(2) shall be
disaggregated by the total amount paid each month, further
disaggregated by the total amount for each of the following categories:
``(A) Payments, including settlements.
``(B) Attorney's fees.
``(C) Court costs.
``(D) Interest.''; and
(2) by adding at the end the following:
``(e)(1) The Comptroller General of the United States shall review
each settlement subject to payments under this chapter and submit to
Congress an annual report identifying and analyzing the use of sue-and-
settle tactics, including--
``(A) the Federal agencies that most frequently engage in
sue-and-settle tactics;
``(B) average settlement amounts associated with such
tactics;
``(C) common characteristics and trends among such
settlements; and
``(D) such other information as the Comptroller General
determines appropriate.
``(2) For the purposes of paragraph (1), the term `sue-and-settle
tactics' means any circumstance under which a Federal entity, in the
course of litigation or threatened litigation, settles, enters into a
consent decree, or otherwise agrees to withdraw, rescind, retract, or
otherwise abandon a policy, regulation, rule, or contract, not to
enforce a statute or regulation, or to perform any other Federal action
adopted by a Federal entity.
``(f) The identity of any individual who discloses information with
respect to a payment made under this section may not be disclosed.''.
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