A bill to improve the safety and security of Members of Congress, immediate family members of Members of Congress, and congressional staff.
SB 2144 would create a federal privacy and anti-doxxing framework for Members of Congress, certain congressional employees, their immediate family members, and former Members of Congress. The bill defines a broad category of “covered information,” including home addresses, phone numbers, personal email addresses, Social Security and driver’s license numbers, financial account information, vehicle identifiers, children’s school or daycare information, commuting routes, and precise geolocation data. It then allows at-risk individuals to notify government agencies, data brokers, and other persons or businesses to protect that information, and authorizes legislative officers to make those requests on their behalf.
The bill requires government agencies to stop publicly posting covered information and to remove it from publicly available content within 72 hours after a request. It also prohibits data brokers from knowingly selling, licensing, trading, or purchasing covered information of an at-risk individual, and requires other businesses to remove and stop transferring such information after receiving a written request, subject to exceptions for news reporting, public concern, voluntarily published information, and certain government sources. The bill provides a private right of action for injunctive or declaratory relief if covered information is made public in violation of the section, and includes rules of construction to preserve press freedom, public-records access where required by law, and information sharing with governments.
If enacted, the bill would add new federal restrictions on how government agencies, data brokers, and online businesses handle personal information tied to protected congressional figures and their families. It would effectively require agencies to suppress certain public-record disclosures, impose removal deadlines, and create a compliance process through the Senate and House legislative officers. It would also create new obligations for private entities to honor requests to remove or stop transferring sensitive information, while carving out exceptions for journalism, public-interest speech, and legally required disclosures. The measure would not broadly rewrite state privacy law, but it would preempt or limit the public availability and commercial transfer of certain information where federal law applies.
The bill’s stated purpose and structure suggest strong support for protecting lawmakers and staff from harassment, stalking, and doxxing, and the Senate passed it on September 29, 2025. The available record shows no committee transcript debate or recorded votes in the provided materials, so there is no documented opposition in this dataset. Overall, the bill appears to have been treated as a security and privacy measure rather than a partisan policy fight.
The main points of potential contention are the breadth of the privacy restrictions and their interaction with transparency, press freedom, and public records. Critics could object that the bill limits access to information that may already be public, especially by requiring agencies and private entities to remove or suppress covered information after a request. Another possible concern is the scope of the protected class, which includes immediate family members, household members, designated staff, and former Members of Congress. Supporters would likely emphasize the exceptions for news reporting, matters of public concern, and legally required disclosures as safeguards against overreach.