Sponsor
Buddy Carter
Representative · R-GA
Representative · R-GA
Creates a mandatory minimum prison term of 25 years (or life) for attempts to kill the President, Presidential staff, Members of Congress, Cabinet officers, Supreme Court Justices, and covered family members.
The bill increases protection and potential deterrence for high‑level federal officials by imposing lengthy mandatory penalties for attempted assassination, at the cost of removing sentencing discretion, likely worsening equity in punishments, and raising incarceration costs for taxpayers.
Federal officials (Members of Congress, Cabinet officers, Supreme Court Justices, the President and their staff) would face much stronger, guaranteed criminal penalties for attempted assassination, increasing legal protection for high‑level officeholders.
Potential attackers may be deterred by the much harsher mandatory penalties, which could reduce attempts against protected officials and improve safety for those officials and associated law enforcement.
Creates clearer statutory punishment terms for attempted attacks on protected officials, which can simplify Department of Justice charging and sentencing decisions.
People convicted of attempted killing would face mandatory long prison terms, removing judicial sentencing discretion and risking overly harsh punishments in individual cases with mitigating circumstances.
Mandatory minimum sentences are likely to exacerbate existing racial and socioeconomic disparities in the criminal justice system if applied unevenly.
Longer mandatory sentences would increase the federal prison population and raise incarceration costs for taxpayers.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Official title: To amend title 18, United States Code, to include mandatory minimum sentences for the attempted assassination of a Member of Congress, a member of the Cabinet, a justice of the Supreme Court, the President, the Vice President, or certain presidential staff, and for other purposes.
Introduced May 7, 2026 by Buddy Carter · Last progress May 7, 2026
Adds a new mandatory minimum penalty for attempted killings of senior U.S. officials and their family members: anyone who attempts to kill the President, Presidential staff, Members of Congress, Cabinet officers, or Supreme Court Justices (and those persons’ families where covered) would face a prison term of at least 25 years or life. The change amends existing criminal statutes to create a distinct punishment for attempts to kill these specified officials, replacing prior language and making long mandatory sentences the floor for such attempts.