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HR 3564
Introduced Re-checks Congress.gov for new actions and updates the bill's status, and fills in any sponsors, committees, or related bills that are missing. It does not re-pull sponsors/cosponsors/committees/related — those rarely change — and it skips all work if nothing has changed upstream, so it's cheap to click.

The Nuclear First-Strike Security Act of 2025

To limit the use of funds to conduct first-use nuclear strikes, and for other purposes.

Introduced May 21, 2025

Latest action (May 21, 2025) Referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and in addition to the Committee on Armed Services, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.

Referred to
Armed Services Committee Foreign Affairs Committee
Policy area
International Affairs
Issues
Defense

Summary
  • Prohibits the use of federal funds to conduct first-use nuclear strikes unless the President determines such a strike is in the best interests of the United States.
  • Requires the Secretary of Defense to certify to Congress leadership that the President's decision to conduct a first-use nuclear strike is valid and legal, no more than 7 days before the strike.
  • Exempts from the certification requirement first-use nuclear strikes conducted under a declaration of war, in response to a nuclear attack against the US or an ally, or during a launch-on-warning scenario.
  • Defines "first-use nuclear strike" as a nuclear attack against a foreign country when the Secretary of Defense and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff have not confirmed that the foreign country conducted a nuclear attack against the US or an ally.

AI-generated plain-language summary of the bill text — neutral, and may be imperfect. See the full text below for the exact wording.

Sponsor (1)
25 cosponsors

Money behind the sponsor

Top reported contributors to Scott H. Peters’s campaign committee (2024 cycle) — who funds the bill’s sponsor, not a claim about this bill. Data from FEC.

  • RA CAPITAL MANAGEMENT $19,800
  • BLACKSTONE $17,500
  • GENERAL ATOMICS $15,400
  • QUALCOMM $13,300
  • RA CAPITAL $13,200

Organizations whose employees gave the most — itemized individual contributions grouped by the donor’s reported employer (FEC Schedule A). Full finance for Scott H. Peters → · Outside spending →

Actions (2)
  1. May 21, 2025 Referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and in addition to the Committee on Armed Services, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned. · house
  2. May 21, 2025 Introduced in House

Similar bills (6)

Bills with similar text or summary — includes reintroductions across Congresses. Ranked by semantic similarity of the bill text (computed locally); a neutral discovery aid, not a claim the bills are duplicates.

  • HR 669 — Restricting First Use of Nuclear Weapons Act of 2025 · Introduced Jan 23, 2025 · Cong. 119 85%
  • HR 3626 — International Nuclear Energy Act of 2025 · Introduced May 29, 2025 · Cong. 119 84%
  • S 1739 — International Nuclear Energy Financing Act of 2025 · Introduced May 13, 2025 · Cong. 119 77%
  • S 192 — Restricting First Use of Nuclear Weapons Act of 2025 · Introduced Jan 22, 2025 · Cong. 119 75%
  • HR 3667 — Strengthening American Nuclear Energy Act · Introduced Jun 2, 2025 · Cong. 119 74%
  • HR 2504 — The U.S.-European Nuclear Energy Cooperation Act of 2025 · Introduced Mar 26, 2026 · Cong. 119 73%

Text versions (1)
  • Introduced in House · May 21, 2025

Only one text version is on file, so there’s no earlier version to compare against yet.

Full text

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

May 21, 2025

Mr. Peters (for himself, Mr. Ryan, and Mr. Deluzio) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and in addition to the Committee on Armed Services, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned

A BILL

To limit the use of funds to conduct first-use nuclear strikes, and for other purposes.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the “The Nuclear First-Strike Security Act of 2025”.

SEC. 2. LIMITATION ON USE OF FUNDS TO CONDUCT FIRST-USE NUCLEAR STRIKES.

(a) Limitation.—No amounts authorized to be appropriated for any fiscal year may be obligated or expended to conduct a first-use nuclear strike unless—

(1) the President decides the strike is in the best interests of the United States; and

(2) except as provided in subsection (b), not more than 7 days before conducting such strike, the Secretary of Defense submits to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, the Minority Leader of the House Representatives, the Majority Leader of the House of Representatives, the Minority Leader of the Senate, and the Majority Leader of the Senate a certification that the decision of the President under paragraph (1) to conduct the strike is valid and legal.

(b) Exceptions.—Subsection (a)(2) does not apply with respect to a first-use nuclear strike conducted—

(1) under a declaration of war enacted by Congress;

(2) in response to a nuclear attack against the United States or an ally of the United States; or

(3) during a launch-on-warning scenario.

(c) Definitions.—For purposes of this section:

(1) The term “ally of the United States” means a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, Japan, the Republic of Korea, and the Commonwealth of Australia.

(2) The term “first-use nuclear strike” means an attack conducted by the United States using nuclear weapons against a foreign country in any instance where the Secretary of Defense and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff have not jointly confirmed to the President that the foreign country has conducted a nuclear attack against the United States or an ally of the United States.

(3) The term “launch-on-warning scenario” means a situation in which the United States early warning systems have detected a launch of a missile whose trajectory would result in an impact on the territory of the United States or an ally of the United States.

(4) The term “nuclear attack” means that one or more nuclear detonations have occurred on the territory of the United States or an ally of the United States. <all>

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