Sponsors (21)
The bill strengthens oversight, accountability, and civil‑liberties guardrails around U.S.‑person queries while preserving cash by blocking a Fed retail CBDC, at the cost of prolonging Section 702 authorities, adding operational burdens and legal uncertainties, and potentially constraining national‑security and payment‑system flexibility.
All U.S. persons (households, taxpayers) and monitored groups gain stronger civil‑liberties protections because the bill increases independent review (ODNI reviews, GAO audit, IG referrals), prohibits intentional U.S.‑person targeting under Section 702, and creates criminal penalties for knowing violations — improving accountability and clarifying when warrants under Title I/III must be used.
Households and businesses keep current cash privacy protections because the Federal Reserve is barred from issuing a widely available retail CBDC (the Board lacks authority absent Congressional grant), preserving payment privacy and leaving cash as an option.
Banks and other financial institutions avoid mandatory operational changes and significant compliance costs because a Fed‑issued retail CBDC is prohibited without Congress, reducing regulatory and implementation burdens on private-sector financial firms.
Many Americans face prolonged exposure to warrantless foreign‑intelligence collection because the bill extends Section 702's statutory authorization to 2029, keeping powerful surveillance authorities in place longer.
Federal investigators may hesitate to run lawful, time‑sensitive U.S.‑person queries because criminal penalties for procedural violations could chill necessary intelligence or law‑enforcement actions, potentially degrading national security outcomes.
Prohibiting a Fed retail CBDC could weaken the U.S. response to foreign CBDC adoption and evolving cross‑border payment systems, which may complicate efforts to preserve dollar dominance and international payment competitiveness.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Strengthens ODNI/IC IG oversight and criminal penalties for certain FBI §702 United‑person queries, and bars the Federal Reserve from creating or issuing a CBDC.
Official title: Foreign Intelligence Accountability Act
Introduced April 7, 2025 by Jerry Moran · Last progress April 29, 2026
Requires the ODNI Civil Liberties Protection Officer (CLPO) to receive monthly written statements from the FBI about any queries of United States‑person data under FISA §702, to review those statements for compliance with targeting and minimization rules, and to refer potentially noncompliant or abusive queries to the Inspector General of the Intelligence Community (IC IG) for investigation. It also creates two new criminal offenses for certain willful unlawful queries or falsification of compliance and raises penalties up to five years imprisonment and fines. Prohibits the Federal Reserve Board and Federal Reserve Banks from developing, testing, offering, or maintaining a central bank digital currency (CBDC) or any substantially similar dollar‑denominated digital liability broadly available to the public, while allowing private, open, permissionless dollar‑denominated digital currencies that preserve cash‑like privacy; includes a nonbinding Sense of Congress that the Fed lacks authority to issue a CBDC without explicit congressional authorization.