Sponsors (3)
The bill strengthens federal tools to deter and punish ATM-related theft and violence and clarifies protections for ATM property, but it expands federal reach and penalties in ways that raise taxpayer costs, increase enforcement and compliance burdens, and create legal questions that could reduce prosecutions or produce uneven sentencing.
ATM users, attendants, and nearby community members gain stronger federal deterrence and protection because the bill raises criminal penalties for ATM robberies/extortion and clarifies federal authority to prosecute those offenses, likely reducing violent incidents at ATMs.
Depository institutions and ATM owners get clearer federal protections for ATM property and equipment, enabling stronger Department of Justice prosecutions and reducing legal ambiguity for pursuing offenders.
Victims and law enforcement gain increased accountability because the bill elevates penalties (including much higher sentences for assaults or killings tied to ATM offenses), signaling tougher consequences for violent conduct during ATM incidents.
Taxpayers face higher costs because substantially longer federal prison terms for new ATM offenses will increase incarceration expenses.
Federal courts, the DOJ, banks, and vendors will face bigger workloads and compliance burdens because the bill expands federal jurisdiction (and uses a broad definition of “ATM”), increasing prosecutions, enforcement complexity, and administrative costs.
People accused of bank robbery and victims may be adversely affected because narrowing the statute (requiring force OR violence rather than both, depending on interpretation) could let some perpetrators avoid conviction, reduce protections for victims, and trigger litigation that delays outcomes.
Based on analysis of 3 sections of legislative text.
Creates federal crimes and tougher penalties for ATM theft, tampering, possession of ATM-derived property, and ATM-related violence; amends the bank-robbery statute's wording.
Official title: Amend title 18, United States Code, to establish criminal offenses with respect to violations involving ATMs, regardless of whether the ATM is located on the physical premises of a financial institution, and for other purposes.
Introduced February 5, 2026 by Rafael Edward Cruz · Last progress February 5, 2026
Creates new federal crimes and tougher penalties for thefts, tampering, and violence involving automated teller machines (ATMs), and updates the federal bank-robbery statute's language. It defines covered ATMs, establishes tiered property and possession offenses tied to monetary thresholds, raises maximum penalties for assaults and killings connected to ATM offenses, and makes conforming table-of-sections changes. Also amends the existing federal bank-robbery provision by changing the phrase "force and violence" to "force or violence" and inserting additional unspecified text at the end of that subsection, altering how that statute may be applied in some cases.