DHS gets 4 more years to buy things fast for AI work.
H.R. 1692 — PATHS Act · Filed by Michael Guest (R-MS) · 1 cosponsor · Introduced Feb 27, 2025 · Passed chamber
Your members of Congress
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What it does
The bill lets the Department of Homeland Security keep using a fast buying method until 2028. This fast method skips some normal government rules. When DHS uses it for artificial intelligence projects, it must tell Congress within 72 hours. The bill lowers the money amount that triggers oversight from 4 million dollars to 1 million dollars.
Who it affects
People get a short window to know about AI deals. Companies that sell to DHS can keep using the fast method. Congress learns about AI projects but cannot stop them.
One thing to notice
The fast buying method does not follow normal government contract rules. DHS must tell Congress about artificial intelligence projects, but Congress cannot block them.
From the analysis of the bill text, linked under Primary records below.
Where it stands
1 cosponsor: 1 Democrats.
- Feb 27, 2025 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
- Feb 27, 2025 — Referred to House Committee on Homeland Security and Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs · Congress.gov: “Referred to the Subcommittee on Emergency Management and Technology”
- Mar 10, 2025 — Floor vote scheduled · Congress.gov: “Mr. Green (TN) moved to suspend the rules and pass the bill”
- Mar 11, 2025 — Passed the House · Congress.gov: “Motion to reconsider laid on the table Agreed to without objection”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
Words to know
- artificial intelligence — Computer systems that learn and make decisions like humans do.
- oversight — Watching and checking that rules are followed.
- fast buying method — A way to buy things that skips some normal government rules.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the bill text published by Congress.gov (1,504 characters) on Jul 25, 2026. Section numbers in the findings refer to that text, linked below; transparency and hidden-provision scores are compared against the median of 14,358 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 2026-09-19.
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