Policing and crime

Foreign Service Modernization Act

This bill requires or authorizes certain actions related to U.S. Foreign Service (FS) management and operations, including an increased focus on expeditionary diplomacy (a concept that emphasizes diplomats conducting direct diplomacy in high-risk environments outside of the embassy), expanded hiring pathways, and additional training requirements.

For example, the bill requires the Department of State to establish

• a team to develop a plan to improve the capability and willingness of FS members and leaders to engage in expeditionary diplomacy;

• a program to recruit qualified veterans and separating military personnel into the FS, including by integrating FS recruitment into military transition programs; and

• a Diplomatic Reserve Corps pilot program to assess the feasibility and effectiveness of a trained reserve cadre providing a surge workforce to support foreign affairs contingencies.

Additionally, the State Department is authorized to establish a structured training framework that is integrated into normal career progression with protected training periods (similar to the Armed Forces' professional military education model).

The bill specifies that FS members

• must successfully complete specified leadership and management training prior to assuming leadership assignments;

• who participate in approved external training, education, or details shall have certain employment protections (such as eligibility for promotions and pay increases on the same basis as those not on such assignments); and

• who undergo full-time, department-funded language training for more than six months must serve at least three consecutive tours in positions requiring proficiency in that language, with assignments beginning immediately after such language training.

Deterring External Threats and Ensuring Robust Responses to Egregious and Nefarious Criminal Endeavors Act or the DETERRENCE Act

This bill establishes sentencing enhancements for various federal criminal offenses if the offenses are directed by or coordinated with a foreign government.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection Officer Retirement Technical Corrections Act

This bill modifies the calculation of retirement benefits for certain U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers.

Under current law, effective July 6, 2008, CBP officers are entitled to an enhanced retirement benefit, subject to certain mandatory retirement requirements. CBP officers who were employed as of July 6, 2008, are entitled to a transitional enhanced retirement benefit without the corresponding mandatory retirement requirements (i.e., proportional annuity).

The bill specifies that CBP officers who received a tentative offer of employment before July 6, 2008, and who started work on or after that date, are entitled to this proportional annuity. The Office of Personnel Management must correct annuity calculations for these officers, including retroactively, based on a list compiled by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). DHS may also retroactively waive mandatory retirement requirements for these officers so that they may receive the proportional annuity.

The Government Accountability Office must report on CBP's policies and procedures related to enhanced retirement benefits.

Combatting International Drug Trafficking and Human Smuggling Partnership Act of 2025

This bill expands permitted U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) activities in foreign countries and provides for tort claims against the United States for certain CBP operations in foreign countries.

The bill allows officers and agents of the Air and Marine Operations of CBP to provide specified support to the government of foreign countries. In particular, officers and agents may provide support for

• monitoring, locating, and deterring the smuggling of illegal drugs, persons, or goods into the United States;

• tracking terrorist or other threats to the United States;

• emergency humanitarian efforts; and

• law enforcement capacity-building efforts.

The bill also allows CBP to expend appropriated funds to pay claims for money damages made against the United States that arise in a foreign country in connection with CBP operations. This includes money damages for injury, loss of property, personal injury, or death caused by certain acts or omissions of an employee of the agency while acting within the scope of his or her office or employment. Under current law, acts occurring in foreign countries are excepted from the Federal Tort Claims Act.

Claims made under the bill must be made no more than two years after the date of the incident. The authority to expend funds for such damages expires five years after the date of enactment of the bill.

Strengthening Child Exploitation Enforcement Act

This bill makes changes to federal criminal laws related to various offenses, particularly sexual abuse offenses against minors.

The bill revises the federal kidnapping statute by specifying that obtaining a victim by defrauding or deceiving a third party constitutes the offense of kidnapping. Additionally, for a kidnapping offense that involves a victim who has not attained the age of 16, the bill specifies that it is not a defense that the victim consented to the conduct of the offender, unless the offender establishes by a preponderance of the evidence that the offender reasonably believed that the victim had attained the age of 16.

The bill also revises statutes related to sexual abuse offenses against minors to specify the following:

• that crossing international lines with the intent to engage in a sexual act with a child who has not attained the age of 12 constitutes aggravated sexual abuse (currently, the statute only references crossing state lines),

• that the offense of sexual abuse of a minor also includes knowingly causing the intentional touching of any person by a person who has not attained the age of 16, and

• that attempting to commit abusive sexual contact is also a crime that is subject to the same penalty as the completed offense.

Safe Access to Cash Act of 2026

This bill establishes new federal criminal offenses for robberies involving automated teller machines (ATMs), including stand-alone ATMs.

Specifically, the bill prohibits the robbery or attempted robbery of a person who is using or servicing an ATM. A violation is punishable by a fine, a prison term of up to 20 years, or both.

The bill also makes it unlawful to (1) tamper with, damage, remove, or steal an ATM without authorization and remove money or property from the ATM with the intent to steal it; or (2) receive, possess, conceal, store, barter, sell, or dispose of any money or property stolen from the ATM. A violation is punishable by a fine, a prison term (e.g., up to 10 years if the value of the stolen money and property exceeds $1,000), or both.

These new prohibitions apply with respect to any ATM owned, operated, or sponsored by a bank, credit union, or savings and loan association, regardless of whether the ATM is located on the physical premises of or owned and operated by the institution.

Finally, the bill establishes enhanced penalties for ATM-related criminal offenses (or attempted offenses) that involve a forcible assault or use of a dangerous weapon (up to 25 years in prison), the forced accompaniment of another person (up to 30 years in prison), or the killing of another person (any years or life in prison).

Justice for Murder Victims Act

This bill allows a prosecution to be instituted for any federal homicide offense without regard to the time that elapsed between the act or omission that caused the death of the victim and the death of the victim.

Law Enforcement Officer Recreation Pass Act

This bill directs the Forest Service and the Department of the Interior to make the National Parks and Federal Recreational Lands Pass available, without charge and for the lifetime of the passholder, to law enforcement officers.

Criminal History Access Act of 2026

This bill authorizes a new type of entity—peace officer standards and training agencies—to access criminal history record information maintained by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The term peace officer standards and training agency means an agency of a state, the District of Columbia, or a U.S. territory that is authorized to set standards for the hiring, training, ethical conduct, and retention of its law enforcement officers through certification, licensing, or other similar qualification processes.

This bill authorizes the Capitol Police Board to waive the mandatory retirement age for members of the Capitol Police up to age 65. (Under current law, a member of the Capitol Police is generally subject to mandatory retirement at age 57 but may receive a waiver from the board authorizing later retirement up to age 60.)

Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act

This bill establishes requirements for the degree of care a health care practitioner must provide in the case of a child born alive following an abortion or attempted abortion.

Specifically, a health care practitioner who is present must (1) exercise the same degree of care as would reasonably be provided to any other child born alive at the same gestational age, and (2) ensure the child is immediately admitted to a hospital. Additionally, a health care practitioner or other employee who has knowledge of a failure to comply with the degree-of-care requirements must immediately report such failure to law enforcement.

A health care practitioner who fails to provide the required degree of care, or a health care practitioner or other employee who fails to report such failure, is subject to criminal penalties—a fine, up to five years in prison, or both.

An individual who intentionally kills or attempts to kill a child born alive is subject to prosecution for murder.

The bill bars the criminal prosecution of a mother of a child born alive under this bill and allows her to bring a civil action against a health care practitioner or other employee for violations.

Honoring Our Fallen Heroes Act of 2025

This bill extends death and disability benefits under the Public Safety Officers' Benefits Program (PSOB) to certain public safety officers who suffer from exposure-related cancer while on duty and their survivors. The PSOB program provides death, disability, and education benefits to public safety officers who are killed or injured in the line of duty and their survivors.

The bill specifies that exposure to a carcinogen shall be presumed to constitute a personal injury in the line of duty if

• the exposure occurred while the officer was in the line of duty;

• the officer began serving as an officer not fewer than 5 years before the date of the diagnosis of an exposure-related cancer and the diagnosis occurred not more than 15 years after the last date of active service; and

• the exposure-related cancer directly and proximately resulted in the death or permanent and total disability of the officer.

The Department of Justice's Bureau of Justice Assistance must periodically review the definition of exposure-related cancer and update the definition if appropriate based on medical evidence and in accordance with the requirements of a petition process.

Deport Alien Gang Members Act

This bill makes non-U.S. nationals (aliens under federal law) associated with criminal gangs inadmissible for entry into the United States and deportable. The bill also establishes procedures to designate groups as criminal gangs.

An individual shall be inadmissible if certain officers or agencies know or have reason to believe that the individual is or was a criminal gang member or has participated or aided such a group's illegal activities. An individual who is or was a member of such a gang, has participated or aided such a group's illegal activities, or seeks to enter or has entered the United States in furtherance of such activity shall be deportable.

Such individuals must be subject to mandatory detention. Furthermore, such individuals shall not be eligible for (1) asylum; (2) temporary protected status; (3) special immigrant juvenile visas; or (4) parole, unless they are assisting the government in a law enforcement matter.

The bill defines a criminal gang as a group of five or more persons (1) where one of its primary purposes is committing specified criminal offenses and its members have engaged in a continuing series of such offenses within the past five years, or (2) that has been designated as a criminal gang by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

The bill also establishes procedures for DHS to designate a group as a criminal gang, including notifying Congress, publishing a notice in the Federal Register, and providing an opportunity for the group to petition for review of the designation.

Strong Communities Act of 2025

This bill allows funds under the Community Oriented Policing Services grant program to be used to make competitive grants for local law enforcement agencies to provide training to officers and recruits who agree to serve in law enforcement agencies in their communities.

Federal Carjacking Enforcement Act

This bill lowers the threshold the government must meet to establish that a defendant committed a federal carjacking offense.

Under current law, the federal carjacking statute prohibits taking (or attempting to take) a motor vehicle from the presence of another by force and violence or intimidation, with the intent to cause death or serious bodily harm.

This bill removes the requirement that a defendant take (or attempt to take) a motor vehicle with the specific intent to cause death or serious bodily harm. Under the bill, the government need only prove that a defendant took (or attempted to take) a motor vehicle knowingly. A violation (or attempted violation) is subject to the same criminal penalties as under current law—a fine, a prison term of up to 15 years, or both.

A violation that results in death or serious bodily injury is subject to the same criminal penalties as under current law—a fine, a prison term of up to 25 years, or both—but only if the offense involves certain aggravating circumstances: (1) the motor vehicle is taken with the intent to cause death or serious bodily harm, or (2) a firearm is brandished or discharged during the offense.

Reauthorizing Support and Treatment for Officers in Crisis Act of 2025

This bill reauthorizes through FY2029 grants for state and local law enforcement agencies and other organizations to provide family support services and mental health services to law enforcement personnel.

Retired Law Enforcement Officers Continuing Service Act

This bill authorizes the Department of Justice to award grants for state, local, tribal, and territorial law enforcement agencies to hire retired law enforcement personnel to perform civilian law enforcement tasks on behalf of the agency and to train civilian employees in the performance of such tasks.

Under the bill, the term civilian law enforcement task includes assisting with certain investigations, reviewing camera footage, conducting crime scene analysis, and conducting forensic analysis.

Providing Emotional Assistance with Relief and Love Act or the PEARL Act

This bill requires U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to establish a pilot program to adopt dogs from local animal shelters to be trained as support dogs for CBP’s Support Canine Program. Support dogs are used for grief assistance, trauma mitigation, and morale.

Shadow Wolves Improvement Act

This bill allows for the revision of the federal employment classification of the Shadow Wolves, a tactical patrol unit in Homeland Security Investigations currently operating on the lands of the Tohono O'odham Nation in Arizona on the U.S.-Mexico border, and establishes other requirements related to the expansion of the Shadow Wolves program.

Specifically, the bill allows U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to noncompetitively convert certain special agents serving in the Shadow Wolves program from the excepted service to the competitive service. Competitive service positions in the federal government are subject to examinations and a statutorily defined hiring process. These agents must have served in the unit for three years to qualify for the conversion regardless of the location assigned.

In coordination with appropriate representatives of partnering tribal governments, including the Tohono O'odham Nation, ICE must (1) specify the mission and goals of the Shadow Wolves program, and (2) update the strategy for the expansion of the program.

Additionally, ICE must (1) determine national staffing needs and required skills for the program, (2) provide current Shadow Wolves classified as officers written information about reclassifying as special agents, (3) develop a succession plan for anticipated retirements among agents in the program, and (4) develop criteria for evaluating and selecting additional tribal lands on which additional Shadow Wolves units may be located.

ICE must report to specified congressional committees regarding the implementation of this bill.