Sponsor
Rand Paul
Senator · R-KY
Senator · R-KY
The bill removes statutory REAL ID/Title II citations to reduce compliance burdens and increase state flexibility, but does so at the cost of creating legal/operational uncertainty and weakening national consistency in identity verification, which could raise security, administrative, and infrastructure challenges.
State and local governments: gain flexibility and reduced immediate compliance obligations because federal statutory citations tied to REAL ID/Title II are being removed, simplifying how they set ID/documentation rules.
Federal agencies and administrators: avoid enforcing the removed Title II provisions, which simplifies federal ID-related administration and reduces some federal compliance burdens.
Immigrants: face fewer federal paperwork cross-references tied to the REAL ID citation, modestly lowering an administrative barrier to interacting with federal/state ID systems.
Everyone who needs federally accepted ID (taxpayers, immigrants, state agencies): will face legal and practical uncertainty about which identification documents are accepted for federal purposes until replacement rules or guidance are issued.
State and local governments (DMVs and agencies): may incur administrative costs and short-term disruption from having to rapidly revise processes and issuance rules in response to the statutory change.
Federal programs and national security processes: risk weakened national consistency in ID verification across states, complicating security vetting and eligibility checks for federal benefits and travel-related systems.
Based on analysis of 3 sections of legislative text.
Removes Title II provisions of Pub. L. 109–13 (REAL ID–related code at 49 U.S.C. 30301) and deletes the phrase "REAL ID Act of 2005" from two statutes, with no new funding or deadlines.
Official title: Repeal title II of the REAL ID Act of 2005 in order to safeguard civil liberties and individual privacy.
Introduced September 11, 2025 by Rand Paul · Last progress September 11, 2025
Repeals the federal statutory provisions enacted as Title II of Public Law 109–13 (the REAL ID–related additions codified at 49 U.S.C. 30301 and related sections), removing those federal identification-document requirements from law. It also strikes the phrase "REAL ID Act of 2005" from two separate federal statutes, without adding funding, deadlines, or other new regulatory text.