Congress demands terrorism reports—but agencies can still keep secrets.
S. 848 — REPORT Act · Filed by Maggie Hassan (D-NH) · 1 cosponsor · Introduced Mar 5, 2025 · Reported out
Your members of Congress
Enter a ZIP to see where your representative and both senators stood on this bill.
Looked up on this device — your ZIP is never stored on our servers.
What it does
This bill requires the Department of Homeland Security, Attorney General, FBI Director, and National Counterterrorism Center to submit unclassified reports to Congress within one year after completing investigations into acts of terrorism occurring in the U.S. Reports must identify security gaps and recommend preventive measures, though officials may withhold information that could jeopardize ongoing investigations. The requirement expires after five years.
Why we flagged it
The bill's core mechanism is a mandatory reporting requirement to Congress on terrorism investigations, designed to enhance legislative oversight and public accountability of executive agencies.
What the text implies
- The one-year reporting timeline may create pressure to publish preliminary findings before investigations conclude, potentially affecting prosecutorial strategy or revealing investigative methods to adversaries.
- Public disclosure of security gaps and investigative findings could inform future terrorist planning, though the classified annex option and withholding exception provide some mitigation.
- The bill does not specify what constitutes 'completion of investigation,' creating ambiguity about when the one-year clock starts and potential disputes over timeliness.
- Quarterly consolidation of reports may obscure individual incidents or delay disclosure of time-sensitive security vulnerabilities.
Section numbers refer to the bill text the analysis read — linked under Primary records below.
Who it affects
The bill increases transparency and congressional oversight of terrorism investigations by mandating public reporting of facts and security recommendations, strengthening democratic accountability. The withholding exception for active investigations is a reasonable operational safeguard that does not eliminate the reporting duty itself.
Named in the bill
Department of Homeland Security, Attorney General, Federal Bureau of Investigation, National Counterterrorism Center, Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, Senate Committee on the Judiciary, Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, House Committee on Homeland Security, House Committee on the Judiciary, House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence
Where it stands
1 cosponsor: 1 Republicans.
- Mar 5, 2025 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in Senate”
- Mar 5, 2025 — Referred to Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs · Congress.gov: “Read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs”
- Jul 30, 2025 — Reported out of committee · Congress.gov: “Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs. 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.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the bill text published by Congress.gov (3,570 characters) on Aug 21, 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.
“Congress demands terrorism reports—but agencies can still keep secrets.” QuorumCivic. https://share.quorumcivic.app/bill/119/s848 Report an error
The week in bills
One email, Sunday: what Congress passed, what it changed, and who paid.
One link arrives to confirm the address. It is used for this email and nothing else, and every issue carries an unsubscribe link.