Federal Rules of Evidence Amended: Rule 801 Hearsay Definitions Modified

Honorable Mike Johnson Speaker, United States House of Representatives Washington, DC 20515 Dear Mr. Speaker: I have the honor to submit to the Congress an amendment to the Federal Rules of Evidence that has been adopted by the Supreme Court of the United States pursuant to Section 2072 of Title 28, United States Code. Accompanying the amended rule are the following materials that were submitted to the Court for its consideration pursuant to Section 331 of Title 28, United States Code: a transmittal letter to the Court dated October 16, 2025; a blackline version of the rule with committee note; an excerpt from the September 2025 report of the Committee on Rules of Practice and Procedure to the Judicial Conference of the United States; and an excerpt from the May 2025 report of the Advisory Committee on Evidence Rules. Sincerely, /s/ John G. Roberts, Jr.

Honorable James D. Vance President, United States Senate Washington, DC 20510 Dear Mr. President: I have the honor to submit to the Congress an amendment to the Federal Rules of Evidence that has been adopted by the Supreme Court of the United States pursuant to Section 2072 of Title 28, United States Code. Accompanying the amended rule are the following materials that were submitted to the Court for its consideration pursuant to Section 331 of Title 28, United States Code: a transmittal letter to the Court dated October 16, 2025; a blackline version of the rule with committee note; an excerpt from the September 2025 report of the Committee on Rules of Practice and Procedure to the Judicial Conference of the United States; and an excerpt from the May 2025 report of the Advisory Committee on Evidence Rules. Sincerely, /s/ John G. Roberts, Jr.

SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES ORDERED: 1. The Federal Rules of Evidence are amended to include an amendment to Rule 801. [See infra pp. .] 2. The foregoing amendment to the Federal Rules of Evidence shall take effect on December 1, 2026, and shall govern in all proceedings thereafter commenced and, insofar as just and practicable, all proceedings then pending. 3. THE CHIEF JUSTICE is authorized to transmit to the Congress the foregoing amendment to the Federal Rules of Evidence in accordance with the provisions of Section 2074 of Title 28, United States Code.

PROPOSED AMENDMENTS TO THE FEDERAL RULES OF EVIDENCE Rule 801. Definitions That Apply to This Article; Exclusions from Hearsay

• * * * * (d) Statements That Are Not Hearsay. A statement that meets the following conditions is not hearsay: (1) A Declarant-Witness's Prior Statement. The declarant testifies and is subject to cross- examination about a prior statement, and the statement: (A) is inconsistent with the declarant's testimony; (B) is consistent with the declarant's testimony and is offered: (i) to rebut an express or implied charge that the declarant recently fabricated it or acted from a recent improper

2 FEDERAL RULES OF EVIDENCE

influence or motive in so testifying; or (ii) to rehabilitate the declarant's credibility as a witness when attacked on another ground; or (C) identifies a person as someone the declarant perceived earlier.

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