Your phone, your rules: Congress moves to break manufacturer repair monopolies
S. 3821 — Fair Repair Act · Filed by Ben Luján (D-NM) · Introduced Feb 10, 2026 · Referred to committee
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What it does
This bill requires manufacturers of digital devices (phones, laptops, appliances, etc.) to sell repair parts, tools, and documentation to independent repair shops and device owners at the same fair prices and terms they offer to authorized repair centers. It bans manufacturers from using software locks or artificial degradation to prevent independent repairs, and gives the FTC and state attorneys general power to enforce the rule.
Why we flagged it
The bill's core mechanism is a consumer protection mandate requiring manufacturers to enable independent repair access. It is fundamentally about restoring consumer rights and economic choice, not about deregulation or industry subsidy.
What the text implies
- Carve-outs for motor vehicles, medical devices, off-road vehicles, and emergency communications equipment exempt large sectors from the rule—manufacturers in those categories face no obligation to enable independent repair.
- Trade secret protection (Section 4(2)) allows OEMs to withhold documentation if they claim it contains proprietary information, creating a loophole that could swallow the rule's core mandate.
- Liability shield (Section 5) protects OEMs from damages if independent repairs cause harm, but does not protect independent repairers from liability—asymmetry may discourage repair shops from participating.
- "Fair and reasonable terms" is defined by reference to what OEMs offer authorized shops, but OEMs control that baseline—manufacturers could artificially inflate authorized-shop pricing to set a high floor for independent access.
Section numbers refer to the bill text the analysis read — linked under Primary records below.
Who it affects
Ordinary people gain the ability to repair their own devices or use cheaper independent repair services instead of being locked into expensive manufacturer repair monopolies. The bill reduces repair costs, extends device lifespan, and restores consumer choice and control over owned property.
Who stands to gain
- independent repair shops and technicians
- device owners (through lower repair costs and extended device lifespan)
- used parts markets and refurbishment businesses
Named in the bill
Federal Trade Commission (FTC), State attorneys general, Original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), Independent repair providers, Authorized repair providers, Digital electronic equipment manufacturers
Where it stands
- Feb 10, 2026 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in Senate”
- Feb 10, 2026 — Referred to Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation · Congress.gov: “Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation”
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 $580,000 in lobbying spend. A filing names 26 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.
Ben Luján, the sponsor, reported $1,880,294 in PAC receipts in the 2026 cycle.
- Semi — $470,000 on 1 filing
- Associated Equipment Distributors — $110,000 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 (14,001 characters) on Sep 28, 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 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 2026-10-20.
“Your phone, your rules: Congress moves to break manufacturer repair monopolies” QuorumCivic. https://share.quorumcivic.app/bill/119/s3821 Report an error
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