Sponsors (11)
The bill strengthens First Amendment protections and greatly expands judicial remedies against politically motivated federal enforcement—improving accountability for individuals and organizations but substantially increasing litigation exposure, administrative costs, and constraints on government and national-security decisionmaking.
Individuals (including federal employees and nonprofits) can sue to stop politically motivated federal enforcement and obtain faster judicial review (lower barriers for preliminary relief and waiver of certain jurisdictional bars), restoring quicker protection against retaliation for protected speech or participation.
People targeted for political speech or participation can recover money and attorneys' fees (including fees for acquitted defendants and prevailing civil plaintiffs) and face a narrowed official-immunity shield, increasing accountability and potential financial remedy for vindicated claimants.
The bill affirms and strengthens First Amendment protections across the executive branch and expressly prevents the President from unilaterally designating domestic terrorist organizations, preserving constitutional speech, press, assembly, and petition rights.
Federal agencies and taxpayers will likely face substantially more litigation (defensive suits, fee awards, discovery battles, injunctions), increasing legal costs, administrative burden, and diverting agency resources from programmatic work.
Federal officials, investigators, and prosecutors may hesitate to pursue legitimate enforcement or national-security actions for fear of litigation, personal liability, or indemnification limits, potentially reducing effective law enforcement and decisive government responses.
Requiring more frequent reporting and constraints on executive designations could risk disclosure of sensitive law-enforcement information and limit the executive branch's flexibility to respond quickly to violent or emergent threats.
Based on analysis of 11 sections of legislative text.
Bars federal enforcement actions substantially motivated by protected speech, requires DOJ reporting to Congress, creates expedited discovery and private remedies including fees and damages, and forbids using federal funds for such actions.
Official title: Stop the Government from attacking individuals and organizations for their political speech or participation.
Introduced January 14, 2026 by Christopher Murphy · Last progress January 14, 2026
Prohibits federal officials from using investigative, regulatory, or enforcement powers when a substantial motivating factor is a person’s constitutionally protected speech or participation. It requires regular DOJ reporting to congressional judiciary committees about sensitive investigations and prosecutorial-signoff decisions, creates expedited discovery and an affirmative defense for targets of such politically motivated enforcement, authorizes injunctive relief and damages claims against officials and agencies, allows fee-shifting and attorney-fee awards, and bars federal spending on enforcement actions substantially motivated by protected speech.