USCP Empowerment Act of 2025

New drone powers for Capitol Police

This bill would let the Capitol Police Board and designated Capitol Police detect, track, warn, disrupt, seize, take control of, or disable drones when there is a credible threat to covered Capitol buildings or assets. Seized drones could be forfeited to the United States, and reasonable force could be used to disable or destroy a UAS if needed. The Board would have to coordinate with the Secretary of Transportation and the FAA when actions could affect aviation safety, aircraft airworthiness, or airspace use. Rules must limit interception of drone communications to what is necessary, be consistent with the First and Fourth Amendments, and generally require that intercepted communications be kept no more than 180 days unless narrow exceptions apply. The Chief of the Capitol Police would have to report to the named congressional committees within 6 months of enactment and every 6 months after, describing actions taken, harms, retained communications over 180 days, airspace mitigation steps, and new equipment used. The bill would also bar the Board from running any drone-mitigation program outside this one, define which Capitol locations are covered, preserve DOT/FAA and Board authorities as separate, and end the authority for certain directed areas on the date named in 6 U.S.C. 124n.