Bill requires border security reports every few years
S. 850 — Northern Border Security Enhancement and Review Act · Filed by Maggie Hassan (D-NH) · 4 cosponsors · Introduced Mar 5, 2025 · Passed chamber
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What it does
The bill tells the Department of Homeland Security to study threats at the northern border. DHS must do this within 180 days, then every 3 years after that. DHS must also update its border security plan within 18 months, then every 5 years after that. DHS has to give Congress secret briefings within 30 days. DHS must measure how well its Air and Marine Operations work. No new money is given to pay for this work.
Who it affects
The Department of Homeland Security must do the new reports and briefings. Congress gets secret information about border threats. Citizens may see some border security plans that are not secret.
One thing to notice
DHS must do all this work without extra money. It may have to use money it already has.
From the analysis of the bill text, linked under Primary records below.
Where it stands
4 cosponsors: 3 Republicans, 1 Democrats.
- 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”
- Aug 5, 2026 — Passed the Senate · Congress.gov: “Passed Senate with amendments by Unanimous Consent. (text: CR S4481)”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
Words to know
- Department of Homeland Security — The federal agency that protects the country's borders and handles immigration.
- border security plan — A written strategy for how to protect and control the border.
- Air and Marine Operations — The part of border security that uses boats and planes to patrol.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the bill text published by Congress.gov (2,394 characters) on Aug 6, 2026. Section numbers in the findings refer to that text, linked below; transparency and hidden-provision scores are compared against the median of 14,206 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 2026-09-17.
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