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Uniform Standards for Federal Law Enforcement Act of 2026
To provide that Federal law enforcement officers may only use deadly force when necessary to prevent imminent danger of death or serious bodily injury to the law enforcement officer or another person, and for other purposes.
Summary
The bill establishes standards for when federal law enforcement officers may use deadly force, limiting it to situations where the officer has a reasonable belief it is necessary to prevent imminent death or serious bodily injury to the officer or another person. The bill prohibits using deadly force solely to prevent a suspect from escaping, to disable a moving vehicle, or to protect property or prevent threats only to property. Officers must give a verbal warning before using deadly force when practicable and cannot fire warning shots except in federal prisons. The Attorney General must develop training for federal law enforcement on methods and tactics for situations where deadly force is prohibited.
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)
- Rep. Meng, Grace [D-NY-6] (D-NY)
Actions (2)
- Feb 9, 2026 Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary. · house
- Feb 9, 2026 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.
Full text
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
February 9, 2026
Ms. Meng introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary
A BILL
To provide that Federal law enforcement officers may only use deadly force when necessary to prevent imminent danger of death or serious bodily injury to the law enforcement officer or another person, 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 “Uniform Standards for Federal Law Enforcement Act of 2026”.
SEC. 2. LIMITATION ON THE USE OF DEADLY FORCE BY FEDERAL LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS.
(a) In General.—A Federal law enforcement officer may only use deadly force when the officer has a reasonable belief that the use of such force is necessary to prevent imminent danger of death or serious bodily injury to the law enforcement officer or another person.
(b) Clarifications.—
(1) In general.—The use of deadly force may not be considered necessary—
(A) solely to prevent the escape of a fleeing suspect;
(B) solely to disable a moving vehicle; or
(C) against a person whose actions are a threat solely to themself or to property.
(2) Discharge at a moving vehicle.—The discharge of a firearm by a Federal law enforcement officer at a moving vehicle may not be considered necessary unless—
(A) a person in the vehicle is threatening the officer or another person with deadly force by means other than the vehicle; or
(B) the person operating the vehicle is doing so in a manner that threatens to cause death or serious physical injury to the officer or others, and no other objectively reasonable means of defense appear to exist, including moving out of the path of the vehicle.
(c) Verbal Warning.—Prior to using deadly force, a Federal law enforcement officer shall give a verbal warning to the individual on whom the officer intends to use such force, to the extent practicable, and only if giving such warning would not increase the imminent danger of death or serious bodily injury to the law enforcement officer or another person.
(d) Prohibition on Warning Shots.—Except in a Federal prison, a Federal law enforcement officer may not discharge a firearm as a warning.
(e) Training.—The Attorney General, in consultation with the heads of other Federal agencies that employ Federal law enforcement officers, shall develop and provide training to Federal law enforcement officers on methods and tactics to use in conducting law enforcement activities in situations, with respect to which, the use of deadly force is prohibited under this section.
(f) Definition.—In this section, the term “Federal law enforcement officer” means—
(1) a Federal law enforcement officer, as such term is defined in section 115 of title 18, United States Code; and
(2) an immigration officer, as such term is defined in section 101 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101). <all>
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