Review – S 524 Passed in Senate – CG Authorization 2025

Yesterday, the Senate took up S 524, the Coast Guard Authorization Act of 2025 under the unanimous consent process and approved the bill without opposition. S 524 was introduced by Sen Cruz (R,TX) last month. The bill is very similar (all of the same sections in both bills) to S 5468 that was introduced by Sen Cantwell (D,WA) in the closing days of the 118^th Congress, so it is obvious that the bill has had the support of the staff and leadership of the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee. It has also been carefully crafted to avoid controversial provisions that would draw opposition to its consideration.

The bill includes one section addressing a relatively minor cybersecurity issue and one title addressing oil pollution response issues, one of potential interest here. No other provisions in the 437-page bill are of specific interest.

Moving Forward  

There has not yet been a Coast Guard Authorization bill introduced in the House this year. This may increase the likelihood that the House could take up this bill. If this bill has coordinated with the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee there is a chance that the bill could be considered in the House under the suspension of the rules process as there does not appear to be anything in the bill that would draw organized opposition to the bill. If such coordination has not taken place, then this bill stagnate until the House Committee crafts their own version of the CG authorization bill, at which point S 524 will be ignored.

 

For more details about the provisions of this bill, see my article at CFSN Detailed Analysis - https://patrickcoyle.substack.com/p/s-524-passed-in-senate - subscription required.