Federal software ban targets foreign-owned firms, favors U.S. competitors
H.R. 7604 — Contracting America First Act · Filed by Lauren Boebert (R-CO) · Introduced Feb 20, 2026 · Referred to committee
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What it does
This bill prohibits federal agencies from contracting with software companies that are majority-owned by non-U.S. citizens for systems handling sensitive personal data of 500+ federal employees. Contractors must certify under penalty of perjury that they are not foreign-owned; agencies can waive the ban only for national security reasons with 30-day congressional notice. Violators face contract termination and debarment from future federal work.
Why we flagged it
The bill's operative mechanism is a categorical ban on federal procurement from foreign-majority-owned software vendors for systems handling federal employee data. It is framed as a national security / data protection measure but functions as a market-access restriction favoring U.S.-owned competitors.
What the text implies
- The definition of 'internationally owned' (majority ownership by non-U.S. citizens) may capture U.S.-incorporated subsidiaries of foreign parent companies, potentially excluding major multinational software vendors even if U.S.-managed.
- The 'sensitive personal information' definition is expansive and self-referential ('any other information that...could reasonably be expected to result in...national security risk'), giving agencies wide discretion to classify data and thus expand the ban's scope.
- Waiver authority requires only agency head determination + 30-day notice; Congress has no veto power, making the national security exception potentially routine rather than exceptional.
- The bill does not define 'covered software system' by function or risk level—only by data volume (500+ employees)—so even low-risk administrative tools may trigger the ban if they touch any qualifying data.
- Certification under penalty of perjury shifts verification burden to contractors; false certification triggers debarment, creating high stakes for borderline ownership structures (e.g., U.S. subsidiaries with foreign parent boards).
Section numbers refer to the bill text the analysis read — linked under Primary records below.
Who it affects
Citizens may benefit from reduced foreign access to sensitive federal employee data (security/privacy gain), but the bill's broad ownership test and vague definitions of 'sensitive personal information' create compliance uncertainty and may reduce software competition, potentially raising federal IT costs that taxpayers bear. The national security framing is plausible but the mechanism is blunt and may exclude capable vendors without clear security justification.
Who stands to gain
- U.S.-owned software companies (competitive advantage in federal procurement)
- Domestic IT service providers (reduced foreign competition for federal contracts)
Named in the bill
Federal agencies (executive agencies under 41 U.S.C. § 133), Internationally owned software companies, U.S.-owned software vendors, Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR), Congressional committees (oversight of national security waivers)
Where it stands
- Feb 20, 2026 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
- Feb 20, 2026 — Referred to House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform · Congress.gov: “Referred to the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
Money around this bill
2 lobbying clients named this bill on 2 disclosure filings across 1 quarter, Jun 2026 to Jun 2026. Those filings disclosed $1,280,000 in lobbying spend. A filing names 22 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 41% of bills with at least one filing.
Lauren Boebert, the sponsor, reported $136,610 in PAC receipts in the 2026 cycle.
- Sap America, Inc. — $960,000 on 1 filing
- Business Software Alliance — $320,000 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 (2,445 characters) on Sep 7, 2026. Section numbers in the findings refer to that text, linked below; transparency and hidden-provision scores are compared against the median of 16,398 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 Jun 2026 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 2026-10-23.
“Federal software ban targets foreign-owned firms, favors U.S. competitors” QuorumCivic. https://share.quorumcivic.app/bill/119/hr7604 Report an error
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