USCP Empowerment Act of 2025
The USCP Empowerment Act of 2025 would authorize the United States Capitol Police (USCP) to act directly against threats from unmanned aircraft systems (UAS, i.e., drones) targeting Capitol Police facilities or assets. When the Capitol Police Board determines there is a credible threat, authorized personnel could detect, identify, monitor, and track a drone, warn its operator, disrupt or seize control of the drone, seize or confiscate the drone, or use force to disable or destroy it. The bill requires coordination with the Secretary of Transportation and the FAA when actions could affect aviation safety, sets up research and training allowances, and provides for the forfeiture of seized drones. It also includes privacy and civil liberties protections, reporting requirements to Congress, and limits the program to the specifically authorized UAS threat mitigation activities. The authority is time-bound and subject to oversight, with termination tied to provisions in the Homeland Security Act and defined scope limits.
Key Points
- 1Expanded USCP authority: The Capitol Police Board may authorize personnel to take actions to mitigate a credible UAS threat to a covered Capitol Police facility or asset, including interception of control signals, warning, disruption, seizure, and even destruction of the drone.
- 2Coordination and safety: Actions must be coordinated with the Secretary of Transportation and, when relevant, the FAA to address aviation safety and airspace use.
- 3Privacy and civil liberties protections: Regulations must conform to First and Fourth Amendment protections, minimize unnecessary interception, limit records retention to 180 days (with exceptions), restrict disclosures, and allow threat-information sharing with state/local/tribal law enforcement only in specified security contexts.
- 4Oversight and reporting: The Chief of the Capitol Police must submit semiannual reports to Congress detailing policies, threat actions, privacy protections, impact on airspace, and technology used, with the reports provided in unclassified form (classified annex possible).
- 5Forfeiture and termination: Seized UAS may be forfeited to the United States; the authority is linked to specific Homeland Security Act provisions for termination, and the program is limited to the UAS threat mitigation framework described (no other programs allowed).
- 6Definitions and scope: Applies to the Capitol Buildings, Capitol Grounds, and other defined Capitol Police areas; uses standard definitions for electronic/ intercept/ oral/ wire communications and UAS as defined in applicable federal law.