PlainBillCongress, translated.Legislation. Context. Public interest.Referred to the House Committee on Foreign Affairs.
Congressional Research Service
No official summary is available in the imported record yet.
People & committees
Rep. Jacobs, Sara [D-CA-51] · D–CA
Legislative record
A procedural vote is different from passage. Passage in one chamber does not establish enactment. Explore the glossary.
Referred to the House Committee on Foreign Affairs.
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Primary sources
Text links open the official source. We also preserved the text version used in the PlainBill explanation below.
No related bills are listed in this snapshot. This does not establish whether the proposal has appeared in earlier Congresses.
Source last updated: Jun 4, 2025. Consult Congress.gov for the current record.
AI Conversation Starters
Choose a perspective, copy a prompt, and paste it into your preferred AI. Each prompt includes the bill version and available official source links, and asks for counterarguments as well as supporting evidence.
Analyze H.R.1196 as objectively as possible. Explain its main provisions, who would be affected, possible benefits and harms, implementation, exceptions, and uncertainties. Present the strongest arguments for and against it, and identify evidence needed to assess its public impact.
Examine H.R.1196 through a progressive lens, focusing on fairness, access, economic inequality, and effects on vulnerable communities. Explain potential benefits, costs, and unintended consequences. Consider the strongest counterarguments and distinguish stated goals from demonstrated outcomes.
Examine H.R.1196 through a conservative lens, focusing on fiscal responsibility, institutional stability, federalism, and the scope of government. Explain potential benefits, costs, and unintended consequences. Consider the strongest counterarguments and any provisions that challenge this perspective.
Examine H.R.1196 through a civil-liberties and limited-government lens. Consider individual rights, privacy, voluntary choice, accountability, and government power. Explain tradeoffs, possible safeguards, and the strongest counterarguments without assuming the proposal is beneficial or harmful.
PlainBill explanation
Based on the full Introduced in House · 2025-02-11 text. This explanation has not received human editorial review. This overview describes the proposal’s major provisions; it does not establish what its real-world effects would be.
The proposed Protect U.S. National Security Act would prohibit using federal appropriations to end the United States Agency for International Development’s (USAID’s) status as an independent agency. It would constrain federal officials’ use of those funds and require the Secretary of State to certify compliance to congressional committees. These are proposed requirements, not evidence of enacted law.
This Act may be cited as the Protect U.S. National Security Act.
no Federal funds appropriated or otherwise made available by the American Relief Act, 2025 (Public Law 118–158) or any other or prior appropriations Act may be made available to eliminate the status of the United States Agency for International Development as an independent establishment, as defined by section 104 of title 5, United States Code.
Not later than 30 days after the date of enactment of this act, and annually for 5 years thereafter, the Secretary of State shall certify to the appropriate Committees compliance with this section.
Section 2 would express Congress’s view that any USAID reform or reorganization should follow existing law, maintain U.S. influence abroad through nonmilitary means (“soft power”), prevent adversaries and competitors from filling the gap, and make the country safer, stronger, and more prosperous. These are stated goals, not established outcomes.
It is the sense of Congress that— (1) any reform or reorganization of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) should be done— (A) in accordance with existing laws; (B) in a manner that maintains United States soft power abroad; (C) in a manner that prevents United States adversaries and strategic competitors from filling the void on the world stage; and (D) in a manner that makes the United States safer, stronger, and more prosperous;
Section 2 would also express Congress’s position that only an act of Congress can end USAID’s status as an independent establishment, a category defined in existing federal law.
It is the sense of Congress that—
(2) only an act of Congress can eliminate the United States Agency for International Development as an independent establishment, as defined by section 104 of title 5, United States Code.
Section 3 would prohibit making federal funds available to eliminate USAID’s independent status. The restriction would cover funds provided by the American Relief Act, 2025, and any other or prior appropriations act—legislation providing federal funding.
(a) In general Consistent with section 1413 of the Omnibus Consolidated and Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Act of 1999 (22 U.S.C. 6563), no Federal funds appropriated or otherwise made available by the American Relief Act, 2025 (Public Law 118–158) or any other or prior appropriations Act may be made available to eliminate the status of the United States Agency for International Development as an independent establishment, as defined by section 104 of title 5, United States Code.
The funding restriction could not be interpreted as indicating that existing law permits eliminating USAID, dismantling it, or absorbing it into another organization.
(b) Rule of construction Nothing in this section shall be construed to indicate that the elimination, dismantlement, or subsummation of the USAID is permissible under existing law.
The Secretary of State would have to certify compliance within 30 days after enactment and annually for five years afterward. The certifications would go to the House Foreign Affairs Committee and the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
(c) Certification Not later than 30 days after the date of enactment of this act, and annually for 5 years thereafter, the Secretary of State shall certify to the appropriate Committees compliance with this section.
(d) Appropriate Committees of Congress Defined In this section, the term appropriate committees of Congress means— (1) the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives; and (2) the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate.
The supplied actions snapshot, updated June 4, 2025, records introduction in the House and referral to the House Committee on Foreign Affairs on February 11, 2025.
Source snapshot updated 2025-06-04T08:06:20Z. 2025-02-11: Referred to the House Committee on Foreign Affairs. 2025-02-11: Introduced in House
A closer look
Reviewed version: Introduced in House · 2025-02-11. These findings describe provisions and who may benefit; they are not judgments of waste, corruption, or motive.
This review covers the supplied bill text. “None identified” does not rule out provisions in later versions or accompanying reports and disclosures.
Provisions outside the bill’s main subject, or policy changes attached to appropriations.
None identified in the reviewed text
No unrelated provision or policy rider was identified in the complete supplied introduced text. This conclusion is limited to that version and does not establish absence in other versions or accompanying materials.
Spending directed to particular recipients or places outside ordinary competitive or formula-based allocation.
None identified in the reviewed text
No congressionally directed spending for particular recipients or places was identified in the complete supplied introduced text. This conclusion is limited to that version and does not establish absence in other versions or accompanying materials.
Narrow exceptions, exemptions, or preferential treatment that warrant a closer look.
None identified in the reviewed text
No narrow carve-out, special exemption, or preferential benefit was identified in the complete supplied introduced text. This conclusion is limited to that version and does not establish absence in other versions or accompanying materials.
Full text preserved for this analysis. Legislative record snapshot: Jun 4, 2025. How PlainBill uses AI