Sponsors (8)
The bill strengthens legal protections and clarity for federal employees and contractors who disclose wrongdoing, but it raises the bar for prosecuting espionage and foreign-intelligence offenses, increasing national-security risk and potential litigation/enforcement costs.
Federal employees and government contractors will face criminal liability under these statutes only when they acted with specific intent, reducing the chance of prosecution for ambiguous or accidental disclosures.
People accused under espionage-related statutes can explain their purpose and motivations in court and have explicit affirmative defenses for disclosures about unlawful conduct, gross mismanagement, or substantial dangers to public health or safety, strengthening whistleblower protections and reducing chilling effects on reporting wrongdoing.
The bill clarifies who qualifies as a 'covered person,' reducing legal uncertainty for employees and contractors about when these criminal statutes apply.
Narrower liability standards and broader defenses will make it harder for prosecutors to obtain convictions in bona fide espionage and foreign-intelligence cases, potentially increasing national-security risk.
Allowing defendants to testify about purpose and motivations in court risks exposure of classified information during trials or hearings, creating potential leaks or operational harms.
Broad affirmative-defense criteria (e.g., relying on claims of unlawful conduct or 'substantial danger') may invite strategic assertions of whistleblowing, increase litigation and enforcement uncertainty, and raise administrative costs for agencies and contractors.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Narrows Espionage Act liability to defined "covered persons" acting with specific intent, allows purpose testimony, and creates an affirmative defense for disclosures about wrongdoing or public-health/safety dangers.
Creates new limits on who can be criminally prosecuted under the Espionage Act by narrowing liability to certain defined "covered persons" and raising the required mental state to "specific intent." It also adds a right for defendants to testify about their purposes for disclosing classified information and establishes an affirmative defense when disclosures were made to reveal law violations, gross mismanagement/waste/abuse, or substantial and specific dangers to public health or safety. The bill amends the criminal statutes that govern unauthorized disclosure of national defense information and classified communications, adds definitions (including "covered person" and a narrowed "foreign agent" meaning), and inserts two new statutory protections for defendants charged under these provisions.
Introduced March 12, 2026 by Rashida Tlaib · Last progress March 12, 2026