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HR 2136119th CongressIn Committee

SHRED Act of 2025

Introduced: Mar 14, 2025
View on Congress.gov
Standard Summary
Comprehensive overview in 1-2 paragraphs

The SHRED Act of 2025 would greatly increase penalties for certain government officials who conceal, remove, or mutilate government records. Specifically, it would add a new subsection to 18 U.S.C. 2071 authorizing extremely lengthy imprisonment (not less than 20 years, or life) for officers or employees of the Department of Justice or any agency/office of the intelligence community who commit these offenses. The bill is titled the Stopping High-level Record Elimination and Destruction Act of 2025 and would apply to individuals defined under the National Security Act as part of the intelligence community. Introduced in the House on March 14, 2025, by Rep. Luna (with Rep. Nehls) and referred to the Judiciary Committee, the measure signals a shift toward harsher penalties for record-destruction misconduct by high-level federal officials. In practical terms, the bill preserves existing record-concealment laws but imposes a much stricter penalty regime for DOJ and intelligence-community personnel. If enacted, offenders would face a high minimum sentence (20 years) or the possibility of life imprisonment, on top of potential fines. This targeted enhancement aims to deter serious misconduct involving official records within these agencies.

Key Points

  • 1Creates a new penalty tier for certain officials: For DOJ officers/employees and intelligence-community personnel, the offense of concealing, removing, or mutilating government records would carry a minimum sentence of 20 years or life, in addition to fines.
  • 2Applies specifically to DOJ and intelligence-community personnel: The enhanced penalty covers individuals who are officers or employees of the Department of Justice or any agency/office of the intelligence community (as defined in the National Security Act).
  • 3Section added to existing law: The bill amends 18 U.S.C. 2071 by adding a new subsection (c) at the end to establish the enhanced penalties.
  • 4Short title: The bill is named the Stopping High-level Record Elimination and Destruction Act of 2025, or the SHRED Act of 2025.
  • 5Legislative process: Introduced in the House on March 14, 2025 by Rep. Luna (with Rep. Nehls) and referred to the Judiciary Committee.

Impact Areas

Primary group/area affected: Officers and employees of the Department of Justice and agencies/offices of the intelligence community; federal officials responsible for handling government records.Secondary group/area affected: Federal prosecutors, defense attorneys, and courts handling cases arising under 18 U.S.C. 2071, plus federal agencies involved in records management and accountability.Additional impacts: Potential deterrence and accountability effects for high-level record-keeping misconduct; possible considerations of due process or proportionality given the life-imprisonment potential; potential interactions with other record-retention, transparency, and national security laws and practices.
Generated by gpt-5-nano on Oct 31, 2025