YourVoice.Now Summary
Civil LibertiesTransparency & AccountabilityMost people would notice nothing — but foreign government money could no longer pay for a U.S. lawsuit.
Civil Liberties
Investors can pay for someone else's lawsuit and take a cut of the winnings. A foreign government, or a fund it owns, could not be that source of money. Paying through a middleman would not be allowed either.
If a court found banned foreign money in a case, the case would be dismissed with prejudice. That means it could not be filed again. The text sets out no exception for a plaintiff who did not know where the money came from.
A case that already ended could be reopened. The losing side could ask the judge to undo the result, using the court rule for fraud.
The filing would list each foreign backer's name, address, and home country. The Attorney General would get a copy. So would a Justice Department team that works on national security.
Transparency & Accountability
In any federal case with outside funding, a party or their lawyer would sign a sworn statement. It would say where the money came from, under penalty of perjury. The funding papers would also go to the judge and the other side, unless the judge ruled otherwise. Funders based only in the United States would not be named.
The first report would be due within a year, then one each year after. It would go to the Judiciary Committees in the House and Senate. It would estimate how much foreign money paid for lawsuits, country by country, and name the courts.
More about this bill
Most people would notice nothing in daily life. The change would land on people and businesses already in a federal lawsuit that someone else helps pay for. Outside investors sometimes fund lawsuits in exchange for a share of any payout. Under this bill, money from a foreign government or its investment fund could not be used that way. A case that used such money would be thrown out for good. Every party in a funded case would file a sworn statement about who is behind the money. It would go to the judge, the other side, and the Justice Department. The deadline would be 30 days after the funding starts, or the day the case is filed, whichever comes later. The rules would apply in federal courts only. They would start as soon as the bill became law. Lawsuits already in progress would be covered too.
Congressional Summary
Protecting Our Courts from Foreign Manipulation Act This bill limits third-party financing of civil litigation by foreign entities in federal courts and establishes related disclosure requirements. The bill makes it unlawful for a foreign state or sovereign wealth fund to provide any monetary support for a civil action in which it is not a named party. The bill also makes it unlawful for any party or counsel to receive monetary support for civil litigation from a foreign state or sovereign wealth fund that is not a party. The bill also prohibits third-party litigation funding agreements involving money from a foreign state or sovereign wealth fund in which someone other than named parties or counsel of record receives a payment that is contingent on the outcome or proceeds from the civil action or from any matter within a portfolio that includes the civil action. The bill requires any party or counsel in a civil action to disclose the name of any foreign person, state, or sovereign wealth fund that has agreed to provide monetary support for the civil action, has a right to receive a payment contingent upon the outcome of the civil action, or has the right to receive payment that is contingent on proceeds from any matter within a portfolio that includes the civil action. The bill also requires parties to produce the agreement creating a contingent right to payment. These requirements apply to claims that are pending on or commenced after this bill's date of enactment.
Legislative Subjects
Details
- Congress
- 119th
- Chamber
- House
- Status
- summarized
- Action
- Reported to House
- Action Date
- 2026-06-15
- Date Added
- 2026-09-18
- Source
- Congress.gov →
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