Sponsors (3)
The bill strengthens federal tools to deter and punish ATM- and bank-related crimes and clarifies prosecutorial authority, at the cost of expanding federal jurisdiction and incarceration exposure — which raises taxpayer costs, compliance burdens for financial actors, and risks of uneven outcomes or gaps in prosecuting some offenders.
People who use or service ATMs (and the communities where ATMs are located) benefit from substantially higher federal penalties and enhanced accountability for violent crimes connected to ATMs, which should deter robberies, extortion, and assaults.
Prosecutors and courts gain clearer federal statutory protection for ATM property and clearer statutory phrasing (reducing conjunctive/disjunctive ambiguity), making DOJ prosecutions of ATM- and bank-related offenses easier to pursue and understand.
Financial institutions and law enforcement benefit from criminalizing receipt/possession of ATM-derived property, which reduces market incentives for trafficking stolen ATM cash or equipment and supports recovery efforts.
Taxpayers and the federal prison system face higher costs because individuals convicted under the new ATM and related federal offenses can receive substantially longer prison terms (up to decades), increasing incarceration spending.
Expanding federal criminal jurisdiction over a broad set of ATM- and bank-related offenses will likely shift cases from state to federal courts, increasing DOJ caseloads and federal court resource burdens.
Narrowing the statutory standard (e.g., requiring force OR violence) or inserting unclear text could allow some perpetrators who used force but not qualifying 'violence' (or vice versa) to avoid federal convictions, reducing protection for robbery victims.
Based on analysis of 3 sections of legislative text.
Creates a federal ATM-specific criminal statute with tiered penalties for tampering/theft, possession of ATM-derived property, and tougher penalties for violence tied to ATM crimes; amends bank-robbery language to "force or violence."
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 a new federal crime specifically for ATM-targeted thefts and related conduct, adds tiered penalties for breaking into or tampering with ATMs, criminalizes receipt/possession of ATM-derived property, and raises maximum penalties for assaults and homicides tied to ATM offenses. It also amends the existing bank-robbery statute by changing the phrase "force and violence" to "force or violence" and inserting additional text, which will affect prosecutions under that provision.