Bill would stop new permanent fences at the White House.
S. 5399 — No New Fencing At the White House Act · Filed by Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) · Introduced Sep 15, 2026 · Referred to committee
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What it does
This bill stops the government from using any money to build new permanent fences around the White House. It applies after the bill becomes law. The government can still fix or replace old fences. The bill does not stop temporary barriers or other security measures.
Who it affects
The bill affects the federal government and the Secret Service. It also affects any state, foreign country, or private group that might want to pay for new fences.
One thing to notice
The bill only stops new permanent fences. The government can still use temporary barriers and other security measures.
From the analysis of the bill text, linked under Primary records below.
Where it stands
- Sep 15, 2026 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in Senate”
- Sep 15, 2026 — Referred to Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources · Congress.gov: “Read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
Words to know
- federal — Belonging to the whole U.S. government, not just one state.
- Secret Service — The federal agency that protects the president and the White House.
- temporary barriers — Fences or walls that can be moved or taken down quickly.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the bill text published by Congress.gov (990 characters) on Oct 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.
As of — page rendered 2026-10-20.
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