Sponsors (39)
The bill strengthens DoD and Coast Guard ability to detect and counter hostile or unsafe UAS and to assist in emergencies by expanding authorities and protecting operational details, but it does so at the cost of reduced transparency, weakened civilian oversight, and an increased risk of mission creep or expanded domestic roles for the military.
Military and Coast Guard personnel (and the bases/forces they protect) can use expanded authorities and technologies overseas, with delegated authority to combatant commanders or other DoD officials for faster detection and mitigation of hostile or unsafe UAS.
Operational details of counter‑UAS technologies and procedures are exempted from disclosure, helping preserve operational security and protect sensitive tools and protocols from adversaries.
The bill extends program timelines to 2030 and lengthens development/evaluation periods, giving DoD more time to develop, test, field, and evaluate UAS‑mitigation capabilities.
Federal employees, state/local partners, researchers, journalists, and the public will face reduced transparency and legal accountability because the bill expands exemptions from criminal and disclosure laws for DoD/Coast Guard counter‑UAS activities.
Broad, effectively permanent operational exemptions overseas combined with extended timelines risk mission creep and prolonged emergency authorities absent stronger reporting, auditing, or sunset provisions, increasing potential for misuse.
Expanding protections for non‑public DoD property and persons under 28 U.S.C. §2672 could blur civil–military boundaries and expand DoD domestic posture in ways that create jurisdictional friction with state and local authorities.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Clarifies and expands DoD/Coast Guard authority to counter UAS overseas, adds statutory exemptions and delegation, extends program timelines, and protects disclosure of counter‑UAS technologies.
Official title: Protect the United States and assets of the United States from incursions.
Introduced May 15, 2025 by Thomas Bryant Cotton · Last progress May 15, 2025
Expands and clarifies Department of Defense authority to detect, mitigate, and defeat unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) and unmanned aircraft, including overseas activities by the Coast Guard and DoD. The bill narrows cited criminal statutes, creates explicit statutory exemptions from certain criminal and aviation statutes for covered mitigation activities overseas, allows the Secretary of Defense to delegate these authorities to appropriate commanders or officials, extends program deadlines and reporting timelines, and protects disclosure of technologies and procedures used to implement the authority.