# 119-s-3918: Government Surveillance Transparency Act of 2026

119-s-3918, Government Surveillance Transparency Act of 2026, is a 119th Congress bill sponsored by Sen. Wyden, Ron [D-OR] (D-OR); status introduced (as of 2026-09-30).

- Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-3918
- As of: 2026-09-30
- Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts.

## Facts
- Bill: 119-s-3918
- Congress: 119
- Title: Government Surveillance Transparency Act of 2026
- Status: introduced
- Introduced: 2026-02-25
- Sponsor: Sen. Wyden, Ron [D-OR] (D-OR)
- Cosponsors: 3
- Policy area: Crime and Law Enforcement
- Touches household money: no
- Last recorded action: 2026-09-30

## Summary

**Public transparency for criminal surveillance orders and limits on long-term secrecy.** This bill would create a new Chapter 206A that defines covered surveillance authorities, requires public, text-searchable dockets, restricts sealing and delayed notice, and builds clear paths to challenge or unseal orders and redactions. - Individuals and targets: Creates a right for any person to petition to unseal or challenge redactions and sets automatic unsealing and 10-business-day notice when seals expire. It limits routine sealing to certified periods, generally capped at 180 days, and requires courts to review factual bases for secrecy. - Courts and service providers: Requires machine-readable public dockets with case-level metadata and substantive access to applications and orders unless sealed. Adds inventory and Rule 41 reporting duties and directs judges to report order counts and details to the Administrative Office of the United States Courts for an annual public report. - States and Tribes: Ties state and tribal recognition to conformity with the new chapter, phases implementation over 2 to 4 years for jurisdictions that need time, and creates a grant program to help with compliance capped at $25.0 million. *Would authorize up to $25.0 million in grants and appropriate $1.0 million for implementation, increasing potential federal spending by up to $26.0 million.*

## Cosponsors (3)

- Sen. Daines, Steve [R-MT] (R-MT), 2026-02-25T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Lee, Mike [R-UT] (R-UT), 2026-02-25T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Booker, Cory A. [D-NJ] (D-NJ), 2026-02-25T00:00:00.000Z

## Provisions PRIA read

- Limits on secrecy, delays, and warrants: benefit, medium. If enacted, the bill would sharply limit how long courts can seal surveillance orders and delay notice. If enacted, sealing would generally end at the later of the execution date or the authorized surveillance end, except for narrow 180‑day sealing orders that may be renewed once; further renewals…
- Provider notice, inventories, and unsealing: benefit, medium. If enacted, providers who disclose customer data not authorized by a court would have to promptly return a detailed inventory to the court saying what data was shared. If enacted, courts must include inventories in Rule 41 returns and require disclosure when the government obtained data or searches…
- Public dockets, reports, and grants: benefit, medium. If enacted, the bill would require courts to file surveillance applications and inventories electronically and publish public dockets as open data. If enacted, judges would report details each January to the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, and AOUSC would publish a public report each June…

## Related bills

- 119-s-5066: Health Equity and Accountability Act of 2026
- 119-s-891: Bipartisan Health Care Act
- 119-s-4280: SAFE Act
- 119-sres-913: A resolution relating to the death of the Honorable Nancy Kassebaum, former United States Senator for the State of Kansas.
- 119-sres-897: A resolution honoring the life, service, and legacy of the Honorable Jon Llewellyn Kyl, former Senator for the State of Arizona.
- 119-sres-801: A resolution honoring the life and legacy of the Honorable Lindsey Olin Graham, a Senator from the State of South Carolina.

## Sources
- [119-s-3918 on Congress.gov](https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/senate-bill/3918)

## Related
- [119-s-5066: Health Equity and Accountability Act of 2026](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-5066)
- [119-s-891: Bipartisan Health Care Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-891)
- [119-s-4280: SAFE Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-4280)
- [119-sres-913: A resolution relating to the death of the Honorable Nancy Kassebaum, former Uni…](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-sres-913)
- [119-sres-897: A resolution honoring the life, service, and legacy of the Honorable Jon Llewel…](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-sres-897)
- [119-sres-801: A resolution honoring the life and legacy of the Honorable Lindsey Olin Graham,…](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-sres-801)
- [All bills in Congress](https://policyrisk.com/legislation)

Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-3918 (as of 2026-09-30).