Pentagon must test quantum computers before buying them.
H.R. 10479 — Quantum Benchmark Act · Filed by Don Bacon (R-NE) · Introduced Sep 17, 2026 · Referred to committee
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What it does
The bill tells the Secretary of Defense to write rules for buying quantum computers. He has 180 days to do this. The Pentagon cannot buy a quantum system unless it passes a test first. The Secretary can skip the test if he tells Congress within 15 days. The rules must match work done by DARPA.
Who it affects
The Pentagon and companies that make quantum computers are affected. Congress gets a notice after the Secretary skips the test.
One thing to notice
The bill does not say what the test must check. The Secretary can bypass the test by telling Congress after the fact.
From the analysis of the bill text, linked under Primary records below.
Where it stands
- Sep 17, 2026 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
- Sep 17, 2026 — Referred to House Committee on Armed Services · Congress.gov: “Referred to the House Committee on Armed Services”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
Words to know
- quantum computers — Computers that work in a very different way than regular computers.
- DARPA — A Pentagon agency that funds new technology research.
- bypass — To skip or go around a rule in a single case.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the bill text published by Congress.gov (1,830 characters) on Sep 19, 2026. Section numbers in the findings refer to that text, linked below; transparency and hidden-provision scores are compared against the median of 14,522 analysed bills.
Status and sponsors — Congress.gov's bill record — actions, committee referrals and cosponsors — loaded nightly. The timeline shows status changes, not every procedural action.
As of — page rendered 2026-09-22.
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