Congress expands elder fraud investigation, clarifies blockchain tracing for cops
S. 2544 — GUARD Act · Filed by Katie Britt (R-AL) · 14 cosponsors · Introduced Jul 30, 2025 · Reported out
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What it does
This bill allows state, local, and tribal law enforcement agencies that receive certain federal grants to redirect those funds toward investigating elder financial fraud, pig butchering scams, 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 on how they spent the money and what results they achieved, and mandates federal agencies to produce reports on the scope and enforcement of financial fraud in the U.S.
Why we flagged it
The bill's core function is to permit and clarify the use of existing federal grant programs for financial fraud investigation and to enable federal-local law enforcement coordination on blockchain tracing. It is a straightforward grant-use authorization and interagency coordination measure.
What the text implies
- Blockchain tracing tools may enable law enforcement to track cryptocurrency transactions, potentially affecting privacy expectations in digital asset transfers and creating new surveillance capabilities that could extend beyond fraud investigation.
- The bill's definition of 'pig butchering' and 'general financial fraud' is broad enough to encompass a wide range of investment and lending schemes, potentially expanding law enforcement jurisdiction into civil disputes or regulatory gray areas.
- Designation of 'financial sector liaisons' creates new formal channels between law enforcement and financial institutions, potentially increasing data-sharing and surveillance of customer transactions without explicit privacy safeguards in the bill text.
Section numbers refer to the bill text the analysis read — linked under Primary records below.
Who it affects
Ordinary citizens, especially elderly people and vulnerable populations targeted by financial scams, gain new investigative resources and coordination tools to combat fraud. The bill does not restrict citizen rights or remedies; it expands law enforcement capacity to pursue criminals and recover stolen assets. Reporting requirements create transparency about fraud trends and enforcement effectiveness.
Who stands to gain
- law enforcement agencies (via grant reallocation)
- blockchain intelligence software vendors
- training and technical assistance providers
Named in the bill
State, local, and Tribal law enforcement agencies, Department of the Treasury, Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Federal Trade Commission, Securities and Exchange Commission, Department of Homeland Security, Federal Reserve Board, Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection, Federal Communications Commission, Social Security Administration
Where it stands
14 cosponsors: 7 Republicans, 6 Democrats, 1 Independents.
- Jul 30, 2025 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in Senate”
- Jul 30, 2025 — Referred to Senate Committee on the Judiciary · Congress.gov: “Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary”
- Feb 5, 2026 — Reported out of committee · Congress.gov: “Committee on the Judiciary. Ordered to be reported without amendment favorably”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
Money around this bill
4 lobbying clients named this bill on 6 disclosure filings across 2 quarters, Dec 2025 to Jun 2026. Those filings disclosed $5,410,000 in lobbying spend. A filing names 5 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 72% of bills with at least one filing.
Katie Britt, the sponsor, reported $476,800 in PAC receipts in the 2026 cycle.
- AARP — $5,300,000 on 1 filing
- Match Group Holdings I, LLC — $100,000 on 2 filings
- National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys — $10,000 on 1 filing
- Cornerstone Government Affairs Obo Match Group Holdings I, LLC — $0 on 2 filings
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 (9,528 characters) on Jul 11, 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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