A top lawmaker is introducing legislation to increase accountability for federal judges accused of misconduct and abuse.

Rep. Hank Johnson's new bill will ensure pending investigations into judicial misconduct Continue, even if the judge under review retires or resigns.

Johnson tried to bridge the loophole that federal judges had used to collect pension benefits despite facing credible allegations of employee misconduct.

“Judges and courts should not be swept away bad behavior under the carpet,” Johnson said. “This is a necessary first step in ensuring that our courts are a place of integrity and are safe for judicial employees.”

His legislation, known as the retaining of standards of transparency and responsibility in the Judicial Act (Trust), follows the NPR investigation, which found serious problems with federal judiciary reporting problems in the workplace.

It is unclear whether the legislation will be conducted in the Republican-controlled Congress. But this highlights the ongoing issues in the federal court system.

The NPR report included two judges, José Antonio Fosté of Puerto Rico and Judge Alex Kozinski of California, retired in an internal investigation and received full benefits in the internal investigation.

“The appropriate function of our courts depends on the responsible judiciary,” said Debra Perlin, vice president of citizen responsibility and ethics policy in Washington. “The judiciary must investigate potential violations of public trust, and we urge Congress to pass this important legislation that requires it to do so.”

About 30,000 people work in the judicial department, including in the offices of judges, clerks and Public Defender and Probation Office.

The federal courts are not exempted from Chapter VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, leaving legal clerks and other judicial employees in the path to seeking justice when they are abused by judges. The court said they have made significant changes to their internal systems since the #MeToo movement came into being seven years ago.

"We believe that changes over the past seven years have positively impacted the judicial workplace, a belief that has been validated by two independent studies," a spokesperson for the U.S. Court Administration Office told NPR in a written statement earlier this year. "We continue to improve as part of our efforts to develop a model workplace for our employees."

In March, the court released the results of a national workplace study where nearly two-thirds of respondents reported that they had not experienced misconduct at work.

However, these findings also raise questions about whether workers feel safe using the courts themselves to report abuse of tools. Only 42% of anonymous respondents said they would report misconduct at work. Others using the reporting system said they were not satisfied with it.

The court is considering making more changes to its system, including giving employees a way Recover attorney fees and damages.