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Accountability for Federal Law Enforcement Act
To amend the Revised Statutes of the United States to hold certain public employers liable in civil actions for deprivation of rights, and for other purposes.
Summary
This bill amends the civil rights law (Section 1983) to hold federal law enforcement agencies liable for constitutional violations committed by their officers. Under current law, this section applies to state and local governments; this bill extends it to the federal government. The bill makes federal agencies strictly liable for violations by their officers acting under color of law, regardless of whether an agency policy caused the violation or whether the officer has other defenses or immunities. The bill constitutes a waiver of sovereign immunity for the United States with respect to federal law enforcement agencies for such claims.
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)
- Sen. Padilla, Alex [D-CA] (D-CA)
12 cosponsors
- Sen. Blumenthal, Richard [D-CT] (D-CT)
- Sen. Booker, Cory A. [D-NJ] (D-NJ)
- Sen. Duckworth, Tammy [D-IL] (D-IL)
- Sen. Durbin, Richard J. [D-IL] (D-IL)
- Sen. Hirono, Mazie K. [D-HI] (D-HI)
- Sen. Kim, Andy [D-NJ] (D-NJ)
- Sen. Markey, Edward J. [D-MA] (D-MA)
- Sen. Merkley, Jeff [D-OR] (D-OR)
- Sen. Sanders, Bernard [I-VT] (I-VT)
- Sen. Warren, Elizabeth [D-MA] (D-MA)
- Sen. Whitehouse, Sheldon [D-RI] (D-RI)
- Sen. Wyden, Ron [D-OR] (D-OR)
Actions (2)
- Dec 15, 2025 Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary. (Sponsor introductory remarks on measure: CR S8731-8732) · senate
- Dec 15, 2025 Introduced in Senate
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 SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
December 15, 2025
Mr. Padilla (for himself, Mr. Blumenthal, Mr. Booker, Mr. Whitehouse, Mr. Markey, Mr. Wyden, Mr. Sanders, and Ms. Warren) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary
A BILL
To amend the Revised Statutes of the United States to hold certain public employers liable in civil actions for deprivation of rights, 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 “Accountability for Federal Law Enforcement Act”.
SEC. 2. CIVIL ACTION FOR DEPRIVATION OF RIGHTS.
Section 1979 of the Revised Statutes of the United States (42 U.S.C. 1983) is amended—
(1) by striking “Every” and inserting the following:
“(a) In this section, the term ‘public employer’ means a Federal law enforcement agency that, at the time of a deprivation of any rights, privileges, or immunities described in section (b), employs, or contracts with an individual to perform the duties of, a Federal law enforcement officer or any other officer empowered by law to execute searches, to seize evidence, or to make arrests.
“(b) Every”;
(2) in subsection (b), as so designated, by inserting “the United States or” before “any State”; and
(3) by adding at the end the following:
“(c) If, while acting under color of law, any officer who is empowered by law to execute searches, to seize evidence, or to make arrests subjects or causes to be subjected any citizen of the United States or other person within the jurisdiction thereof to the deprivation of any rights, privileges, or immunities secured by the Constitution and laws, the public employer of that officer shall be liable to the party injured for the conduct of the officer in an action at law, suit in equity, or other proper proceeding for redress, regardless of whether a policy or custom of the public employer caused the violation, and regardless of whether the officer has any defense or immunity from suit or liability. This paragraph shall constitute a waiver of sovereign immunity of the United States with respect to Federal law enforcement agencies for any claim brought under this section. Nothing in this paragraph shall be construed to limit or preclude any legal, equitable, or other remedy that is available, under this section or under any other source of law, against an individual officer.”. <all>
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