DOT banned from buying foreign LiDAR—but loopholes may let it through
H.R. 4802 — Securing Infrastructure from Adversaries Act of 2025 · Filed by Dusty Johnson (R-SD) · 17 cosponsors · Introduced Jul 29, 2025 · Referred to committee
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What it does
This bill prohibits the Secretary of Transportation from buying, contracting with, or giving grants to entities that use or procure light detection and ranging (LiDAR) technology from specified foreign countries or companies. The ban applies to DOT contracts, grants, and loans starting June 30, 2026, though the Secretary can waive it on a case-by-case basis if deemed in the national interest, with 15 days' notice to Congress. Exemptions exist for vehicle safety testing, research, and regulatory applications.
Why we flagged it
The bill's core mechanism is a national-security-motivated procurement ban on foreign LiDAR technology in DOT contracts and grants. It is not a subsidy, deregulation, or commemorative measure—it is a targeted restriction on technology sourcing.
What the text implies
- The bill references definitions in section 164(e) of the 2025 National Defense Authorization Act without restating them; the scope of 'covered foreign country' and 'covered LiDAR company' is not transparent in this text alone and may be broader or narrower than readers assume.
- The 15-day waiver-notification window to Congress is short and may allow waivers to proceed with minimal legislative scrutiny, potentially creating a de facto executive override of the prohibition.
- Exemptions for vehicle safety testing and research may create a loophole: entities could conduct 'testing' or 'evaluation' using foreign LiDAR without triggering the ban, undermining the stated security objective.
- The June 30, 2026 effective date gives entities 18+ months to stockpile or lock in contracts using foreign LiDAR before the ban takes effect, potentially negating the security benefit.
Section numbers refer to the bill text the analysis read — linked under Primary records below.
Who it affects
The bill protects against potential foreign technology vulnerabilities in critical infrastructure, a legitimate public-safety concern; however, restricting technology sources may increase costs for transportation projects, delay infrastructure improvements, or reduce innovation competition—costs ultimately borne by taxpayers and infrastructure users. The balance between security and cost/efficiency is genuinely unclear from the text.
Who stands to gain
- domestic LiDAR manufacturers and suppliers
- U.S.-based autonomous vehicle and sensor technology companies
- defense contractors with LiDAR capabilities
Named in the bill
Secretary of Transportation, Department of Transportation, House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, LiDAR technology manufacturers (foreign and domestic), Servicemember Quality of Life Improvement and National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 202
Where it stands
17 cosponsors: 9 Democrats, 8 Republicans.
- Jul 29, 2025 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
- Jul 29, 2025 — Referred to House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure · Congress.gov: “Referred to the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
Money around this bill
5 lobbying clients named this bill on 6 disclosure filings across 2 quarters, Dec 2025 to Jun 2026. Those filings disclosed $1,140,000 in lobbying spend. A filing names 6 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 78% of bills with at least one filing.
Dusty Johnson, the sponsor, reported $325,500 in PAC receipts in the 2026 cycle.
- American Trucking Associations — $720,000 on 1 filing
- Association for Uncrewed Vehicle Systems International — $150,000 on 1 filing
- Ouster, Inc. — $150,000 on 2 filings
- Ouster, Inc . — $70,000 on 1 filing
- Aeva Technologies, Inc. — $50,000 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 (2,938 characters) on Jun 3, 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.
- H.R. 4802 on Congress.gov
- Actions and status history
- Cosponsors (17)
- Bill text the analysis read
- American Trucking Associations — LDA filing, 2026 Q2
- Association for Uncrewed Vehicle Systems International — LDA filing, 2026 Q2
- Ouster, Inc. — LDA filing, 2025 Q4
- Dusty Johnson — FEC candidate receipts, 2026 cycle
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