HR 4333 Introduced – DOJ-DHS cUAS Authority

Back in June, Rep Houlahan (D,PA) introduced HR 4333, the Safeguarding the Homeland from the Threats Posed by Unmanned Aircraft Systems Act of 2023. . The bill would replace 6 USC 124n, Protection of Certain Facilities and Assets from Unmanned Aircraft, with a new version that extends and expands the authority given to DHS and DOJ to conduct limited counter UAS operations. No funding authorization is provided in the bill.

This is a companion bill (nearly identical language) to S 1631 [removed from paywall]. No action has been taken in the Senate on that bill.

The current authority for counter-UAS activities by DHS and DOJ, codified at §124n, will terminate on September 20^th, 2023 (see §124n Note). It was originally set to terminate on October 25^th, 2022, but that was changed in the massive 2023 Consolidated Appropriations Act (Pub. L. 117–328, Div. F, title V, §547) on December 29^th, 2022.

Moving Forward

While Houlahan is not a member of the House Judiciary Committee to which this bill was assigned for primary consideration, one of her four co-sponsors {Rep Johnson (R,LA)} is a member of the Committee. This means that there may be sufficient influence to see the bill considered in Committee. There will be some level of bipartisan support for this bill, but whether it will be enough to pass in Committee remains to be seen. I expect some level of opposition from conservative Republicans to an expansion of the government’s authority to take physical action against possibly lawful activities of citizens without obtaining a court order. Similarly, liberal Democrats might be expected to object to allowing the government to take action against environmental activists (for example) who would use UAS to monitor corporate pollution.