HR 5442 United States House · 118th Congress

Drone Reform Act

HR 5442, the Drone Reform Act, requires all federal operations using armed drones to be conducted solely under the authority of the Department of Defense (DoD), ending the ability of other agencies (like the CIA or DHS) to operate them. It mandates that only uniformed U.S. military personnel can operate or fire weapons from armed drones. The bill clarifies that intelligence sharing with DoD remains unaffected and explicitly states it does not create new authority to kill individuals. This directly affects federal agencies previously authorized to use armed drones and military personnel who will now be the sole operators.

Bill status in committee 1 of 4 stages cleared

Introduction

Sep 2023

Committee Review

Floor Vote

President

Introduced Sep 13, 2023 Last action Sep 13, 2023

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Committee

Sep 13, 2023

Committee

Referred to the Committee on Armed Services, and in addition to the Committee on Intelligence (Permanent Select), for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.

lower

Sep 13, 2023

Introduced

Introduced in House

lower

1 primary · 3 co-sponsors