Pentagon must find and remove foreign cell parts from defense systems.
S. 5598 — Blocking Foreign Cellular Modules in Defense Systems Act of 2026 · Filed by Jim Banks (R-IN) · Introduced Sep 29, 2026 · Referred to committee
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What it does
The bill tells the Pentagon to search all defense systems within 180 days. It must find cell parts made by Chinese companies or other foreign makers. Those parts must pose a risk. The Pentagon must report to Congress within one year on what it found. It must say how it will remove or separate those parts. The Comptroller General will review the Pentagon's work 180 days after that report.
Who it affects
The Pentagon must spend time and money to search defense systems. The Pentagon must remove or separate foreign cell parts. The bill aims to protect defense networks from foreign access or data theft.
One thing to notice
The Secretary of Defense can decide which foreign suppliers pose a risk. The Pentagon can expand the search beyond named Chinese companies.
From the analysis of the bill text, linked under Primary records below.
Where it stands
- Sep 29, 2026 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in Senate”
- Sep 29, 2026 — Referred to Senate Committee on Armed Services · Congress.gov: “Read twice and referred to the Committee on Armed Services”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
Words to know
- cell parts — small electronic pieces that connect devices to wireless networks.
- Pentagon — the federal office that runs the U.S. armed forces.
- Comptroller General — the head of an independent federal office that checks how government spends money.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the bill text published by Congress.gov (4,108 characters) on Oct 7, 2026. Section numbers in the findings refer to that text, linked below; transparency and hidden-provision scores are compared against the median of 16,222 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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