Policing and crime

Protect Our Law enforcement with Immigration Control and Enforcement Act of 2025 or the POLICE Act of 2025

This bill makes assaulting a law enforcement officer, firefighter, or other first responder a deportable offense.

Specifically, the bill makes deportable any non-U.S. national (alien under federal law) who has been convicted of (or admits to have committed) any act that constitutes the essential elements of any offense involving assault of a law enforcement officer, firefighter, or other first responder.

The Department of Homeland Security must publish annually on its website a report on the number of individuals deported in the previous year pursuant to this bill.

Silencers Help Us Save Hearing Act or the SHUSH Act

This bill removes silencers from regulation under certain federal statutes governing the sale, transfer, and possession of firearms.

Specifically, it removes silencers from the list of firearms subject to regulation (i.e., registration and licensing requirements) under the National Firearms Act (NFA). Additionally, it excludes a muffler or silencer from the list of firearms subject to regulation (e.g., background check requirements) under the Gun Control Act of 1968 (GCA).

Finally, the bill does the following:

• preempts state or local laws that tax or regulate firearm silencers,

• specifies that a person who lawfully acquires or possesses a silencer under provisions of the GCA meets the registration and licensing requirements of the NFA,

• eliminates mandatory minimum prison terms for a crime of violence or drug trafficking offense in which a defendant uses or carries a firearm equipped with a silencer or muffler, and

• permits active and retired law enforcement officers to carry a concealed silencer.

Project Safe Neighborhoods Reauthorization Act of 2025

This bill reauthorizes through FY2030 the Project Safe Neighborhoods grant program within the Department of Justice.

The bill also allows funds under the program to be used for

• hiring crime analysts to assist with violent crime reduction efforts;

• the cost of overtime for law enforcement officers, prosecutors, and law enforcement assistants who assist with the program;

• purchasing, implementing, and using technology to assist with violent crime reduction efforts; and

• supporting multijurisdictional task forces.

Law Enforcement Officer and Firefighter 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, to law enforcement officers and firefighters.

Thin Blue Line Act

This bill expands the list of statutory aggravating factors in death penalty determinations to also include killing or targeting a law enforcement officer, firefighter, or other first responder.

Protect Our Law enforcement with Immigration Control and Enforcement Act of 2025 or the POLICE Act of 2025

This bill makes assaulting a law enforcement officer, firefighter, or other first responder a deportable offense.

Specifically, the bill makes deportable any non-U.S. national (alien under federal law) who has been convicted of (or admits to have committed) any act that constitutes the essential elements of any offense involving assault of a law enforcement officer, firefighter, or other first responder.

The Department of Homeland Security must publish annually on its website a report on the number of individuals deported in the previous fiscal year pursuant to this bill.

LEOSA Reform Act

This bill broadens the authority for certain individuals to carry concealed firearms in school zones and across state lines.

Specifically, the bill exempts the following categories of individuals from the federal prohibition on possessing (or discharging) a firearm in a school zone:

• certain active and retired law enforcement officers who are authorized to carry concealed firearms under federal law, and

• individuals who are allowed to carry concealed firearms under the law of a state.

Additionally, the bill allows qualified active and retired law enforcement officers to carry concealed firearms and ammunition (including magazines) in national parks; on state, local, or private property that is open to the public; and in certain federal facilities that are open to the public.

Finally, the bill permits states to reduce the frequency with which retired law enforcement officers must meet certain qualification standards.

Invest to Protect Act of 2025

This bill directs the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services within the Department of Justice to award grants to local and tribal governments that employ fewer than 175 law enforcement officers. Grant funds may be used for various activities, including to provide de-escalation training and improve recruitment and retention.

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.

Federal Law Enforcement Officer Service Weapon Purchase Act of 2026

This bill directs the General Services Administration to establish a program under which a federal law enforcement officer may purchase a retired firearm from the agency that issued the firearm to the officer.

Common-Sense Law Enforcement and Accountability Now in DC Act or the CLEAN DC Act

This bill repeals the Comprehensive Policing and Justice Reform Amendment Act of 2022, enacted by the Council of the District of Columbia.

Any provision of law amended or repealed by that act is restored or revived as if it had not been enacted.

(The act sets forth a variety of measures that focus on policing, including measures prohibiting the use of certain neck restraints by law enforcement officers, requiring additional procedures related to body-worn cameras, and expanding access to police disciplinary records.)

Qualified Immunity Act of 2025

This bill provides statutory authority for qualified immunity for law enforcement officers in civil cases involving constitutional violations.

Current law provides a statutory civil cause of action against state and local government actors (e.g., law enforcement officers) for violations of constitutional rights, also known as Section 1983 lawsuits. The Supreme Court has also found an implied cause of action against federal law enforcement officers in certain situations (e.g., Fourth Amendment violations), also known as Bivens lawsuits. However, under the judicial doctrine of qualified immunity, government officials performing discretionary duties are generally shielded from civil liability, unless their actions violate clearly established rights of which a reasonable person would have known.

The bill provides statutory authority for these principles with respect to law enforcement officers. Specifically, under the bill, law enforcement officers are entitled to qualified immunity if (1) at the time of the alleged violation, the constitutional right at issue was not clearly established or the state of the law was not sufficiently clear that any reasonable officer would have known that the conduct was unconstitutional; or (2) a court has held that the specific conduct at issue is constitutional.

The bill applies to federal, state, and local law enforcement officers. It also specifies that law enforcement agencies and local governments may not be held liable if their officers are entitled to qualified immunity.

Pay Our Capitol Police Act

This bill provides FY2026 continuing appropriations for the U.S. Capitol Police (USCP) to pay and provide benefits for employees who are working during a government shutdown.

The bill provides the appropriations for any period during which interim or full-year appropriations for FY2026 are not in effect (i.e., a government shutdown). Specifically, the bill provides the appropriations to the USCP for salaries, overtime pay, hazardous duty pay, recruitment and retention bonuses, and employee benefits for (1) members of the USCP who are excepted employees (i.e., required to work) or are performing emergency work during the shutdown, and (2) civilian employees who are providing support to the members.

The bill also provides appropriations for payments to USCP contractors who are providing support to the members of the USCP who are working during the shutdown.

The appropriations provided by this bill may not be used during any period in which continuing appropriations are in effect for these purposes.

The appropriations are available until the earlier of (1) the enactment into law of legislation to provide FY2026 appropriations for the USCP or the legislative branch (including continuing appropriations), or (2) September 30, 2026.

The bill must take effect as if it had been enacted on October 1, 2025.

CBP Canine Home Kenneling Pilot Act

This bill requires the Office of Field Operations within U.S. Customs and Border Protection to establish a canine home kenneling pilot program. In home kenneling programs, canines used for law enforcement purposes are housed and cared for at the residences of their assigned handlers.

Expel Illegal Chinese Police Act of 2025

This bill requires sanctions on certain foreign persons associated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) or Chinese law enforcement institutions, including those seeking to establish a Chinese police presence in the United States.

The bill requires the President to impose visa-blocking sanctions on certain non-U.S. nationals (aliens under federal law), including those who are (1) employees of Chinese law enforcement institutions or their immediate family members, or (2) directly associated with a Chinese police or United Front Work Department (UFWD) presence in the United States. (The CCP's UFWD seeks to win support for the CCP from non-CCP groups at home and abroad, with a focus on ethnic-Chinese diaspora communities.)

The President must also impose property-blocking sanctions on foreign individuals or entities that are (1) Chinese law enforcement institutions, their senior leaders, or those acting under the control of such institutions; (2) directly associated with establishing or maintaining a Chinese police presence in the United States; or (3) acting under the control of the UFWD with the intention of covertly monitoring or intimidating those living in the United States.

Additionally, the bill requires the President to prohibit federal agencies from participating in investigations into foreign persons subject to these sanctions unless the investigation is (1) initiated by the U.S. government; or (2) the President determines that such participation is vital to the health, safety, and well-being of U.S. citizens.

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.