Sponsors (41)
The bill strengthens DoD counter-UAS powers and interagency support to improve force protection and public safety, but does so while reducing transparency, expanding immunity for overseas actions, and raising significant privacy and civil-liberty concerns.
Local communities, first responders, and civilians: the DoD can support federal and civilian agencies during UAS- or WMD-related incidents, enabling faster, coordinated response and improved public safety.
U.S. military personnel and overseas installations: personnel can lawfully detect and mitigate hostile UAS threats, strengthening protection of forces and bases abroad.
DoD commanders and federal employees: authority for counter-UAS activities is extended and clarified through 2030, giving longer-term legal certainty for planning and conducting operations.
Civilian populations and local communities: expanded surveillance and remote-identification authorities increase risk to privacy and civil liberties if used beyond military targets.
Taxpayers, oversight bodies, and the public: exemptions that shield counter-UAS technologies, protocols, and guidance from disclosure reduce transparency and limit public and congressional oversight.
Foreign civilians and involved personnel: broad immunity from certain criminal statutes for overseas DoD/Coast Guard counter-UAS actions could limit legal accountability for harmful actions abroad.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Expands and clarifies DoD/Coast Guard authority to mitigate and neutralize UAS threats abroad, delegates authority, extends deadlines to 2030, and limits disclosure of related operational information.
Official title: To protect the United States and assets of the United States from incursions.
Introduced May 15, 2025 by August Pfluger · Last progress May 15, 2025
Expands and clarifies Department of Defense authority to detect, mitigate, and neutralize threats from unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) and unmanned aircraft. It delegates some authority to combatant commanders and Service Secretaries, broadens permissible defensive activities (including protection of nonpublic DoD property and response to WMD/major incident situations), updates and extends certain time limits through 2030, and narrows public disclosure requirements for the technologies, procedures, and guidance used in those activities. The change also specifies that certain criminal and aviation statutes do not apply to DoD or Coast Guard activities outside the United States when those activities relate to countering UAS threats, and it adds definitions and cross-reference updates to align authorities across DoD components and unified combatant commands.