Congress funds local fraud investigators to protect elderly from scams
H.R. 2978 — GUARD Act · Filed by Zachary (Zach) Nunn (R-IA) · 54 cosponsors · Introduced Apr 21, 2025 · Passed chamber
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What it does
This bill allows state, local, and tribal law enforcement agencies that receive certain federal crime-fighting grants to use those funds specifically to investigate elder financial fraud, pig butchering scams (cryptocurrency investment cons), and general financial fraud. It also clarifies that federal law enforcement can help local agencies use blockchain tracing tools. The bill requires agencies to report back on how they spent the money and what results they achieved.
Why we flagged it
The bill's operative mechanism is a permissive reallocation of existing federal law-enforcement grants toward financial fraud investigation, paired with reporting requirements and federal-local coordination authority. It is a straightforward public-safety measure addressing documented fraud harms.
What the text implies
- Reporting requirements (sections 3(b), 4, 5, 6) create a new federal data-collection infrastructure on financial fraud trends, which may inform future regulatory or legislative action on cryptocurrency, banking, or consumer protection.
- The bill's reference to the 'Critical and Emerging Technology List' (section 3(a)(2)(C)) ties law enforcement training to a federal technology-priority framework that may evolve independently of this statute, potentially shifting investigative focus over time.
- Designation of 'financial sector liaisons' (section 3(a)(6)) creates new formal communication channels between law enforcement and financial institutions, which may increase data-sharing and surveillance capacity beyond fraud investigation.
Section numbers refer to the bill text the analysis read — linked under Primary records below.
Who it affects
The bill expands law enforcement capacity to investigate financial fraud targeting vulnerable populations (elderly, disabled, cryptocurrency victims) without creating new restrictions on citizens or reducing existing protections. It redirects existing grant funds toward a documented public harm (elder fraud, pig butchering) and mandates transparency through reporting requirements.
Who stands to gain
- law enforcement agencies (grant recipients)
- blockchain intelligence software vendors
- financial crime training providers
Named in the bill
State, local, and Tribal law enforcement agencies, Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), Department of the Treasury, Department of Justice, Department of Homeland Security, Federal banking agencies, House Committee on Financial Services, Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, House and Senate Judiciary Committees
Where it stands
54 cosponsors: 30 Republicans, 24 Democrats.
- Apr 21, 2025 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
- Apr 21, 2025 — Referred to House Committee on Financial Services and House Committee on the Judiciary · Congress.gov: “Referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committee on Financial Services, for a…”
- May 13, 2026 — Markup held in committee · Congress.gov: “Committee Consideration and Mark-up Session Held”
- May 13, 2026 — Reported out of committee · Congress.gov: “Ordered to be Reported (Amended) by the Yeas and Nays: 52 - 0”
- Sep 14, 2026 — Floor vote scheduled · Congress.gov: “Ms. De La Cruz moved to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended”
- Sep 15, 2026 — Passed the House · Congress.gov: “On motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended Agreed to by the Yeas and Nays: (2/3 required)…”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
Money around this bill
7 lobbying clients named this bill on 9 disclosure filings across 2 quarters, Dec 2025 to Jun 2026. Those filings disclosed $18,370,000 in lobbying spend. A filing names 24 bills on average, so that figure is what each filing reported, not a share belonging to this bill.
More lobbying clients named this bill than 86% of bills with at least one filing.
Zachary (Zach) Nunn, the sponsor, reported $1,895,327 in PAC receipts in the 2026 cycle. $10,000 of that came from 1 PAC tied to these lobbying clients.
- AARP — $5,300,000 on 1 filing
- American Bankers Association — $3,510,000 on 1 filing
- Capital One Financial Corporation — $2,950,000 on 2 filings
- National Multifamily Housing Council Inc — $2,330,000 on 1 filing
- Independent Community Bankers of America — $2,170,000 on 1 filing
Lobbying Disclosure Act filings through Jul 20, 2026. A filing shows who paid to lobby on a bill it names, not what changed.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the bill text published by Congress.gov (8,417 characters) on Jul 10, 2026. Section numbers in the findings refer to that text, linked below; transparency and hidden-provision scores are compared against the median of 16,222 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.
Money — Senate Lobbying Disclosure Act filings whose specific-issue field names this bill for quarters ending Dec 2025 to Jun 2026. A filing's amount is reported whole beside the median number of bills a filing names; it is never divided across them. PAC receipts are FEC-reported contributions to the sponsor's candidate committee in the 2026 cycle.
As of — lobbying records through Jul 20, 2026 · page rendered 2026-10-20.
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