Farm borrowers get legal shield against data sharing with temp workers
H.R. 5150 — Protecting Agricultural Borrower Information Act · Filed by April McClain Delaney (D-MD) · 8 cosponsors · Introduced Sep 4, 2025 · Referred to committee
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What it does
This bill makes it illegal for the Farm Service Agency (FSA) or its employees to share personal loan and payment information from farm borrowers with temporary government workers (special government employees and detailed employees) unless the borrower consents or the information is anonymized. Violations carry a fine up to $10,000 and/or up to one year in prison.
Why we flagged it
The bill's sole operative mechanism is a criminal prohibition on unauthorized disclosure of farm-borrower data to temporary government workers. It is a straightforward privacy safeguard with no secondary agenda or hidden rider.
What the text implies
- The prohibition targets 'special government employees' and 'detailed' workers specifically—a narrow class that may include political appointees, consultants, or staff rotated between agencies. This suggests concern about data access by non-career personnel, potentially reflecting prior incidents or political-targeting risks.
- The $10,000 fine and 1-year prison penalty are criminal sanctions, not civil penalties. This elevates privacy violations to felony-level consequences, signaling Congress views unauthorized disclosure as serious misconduct.
- The 'consent not as condition of benefit' language prevents FSA from coercing borrowers to waive privacy as a price of receiving loans or payments—a safeguard against agency overreach.
Section numbers refer to the bill text the analysis read — linked under Primary records below.
Who it affects
Farm borrowers gain explicit legal protection against unauthorized sharing of their sensitive financial information with temporary government workers, reducing risk of data misuse or political targeting. The exceptions for anonymized data and voluntary consent preserve legitimate government functions while protecting privacy.
Named in the bill
Farm Service Agency (FSA), Secretary of Agriculture, Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act, Section 339 (amended), Section 202, Title 18 USC (special government employee definition), Section 3341, Title 5 USC (detailed employee definition)
Where it stands
8 cosponsors: 8 Democrats.
- Sep 4, 2025 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
- Sep 4, 2025 — Referred to House Committee on Agriculture · Congress.gov: “Referred to the House Committee on Agriculture”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the bill text published by Congress.gov (1,376 characters) on May 19, 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.
As of — page rendered 2026-10-20.
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