S. 4594

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 4594 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

<DOC>

119th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 4594

To amend section 2703 of title 18, United States Code, to prohibit 
certain use of administrative subpoenas with respect to customer 
communications and records, and for other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

May 20, 2026

Mr. Wyden (for himself and Ms. Lummis) introduced the following bill; 
which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

A BILL

To amend section 2703 of title 18, United States Code, to prohibit 
certain use of administrative subpoenas with respect to customer 
communications and records, and for other purposes.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the ``Subpoena Abuse Prevention Act''.

SEC. 2. REFORMING SUBPOENAS.

(a) Consistent Protections for Phone and App-Based Call and Texting 
Records.--Section 2703(c)(2) of title 18, United States Code, is 
amended--
(1) by striking subparagraph (C); and
(2) by redesignating subparagraphs (D), (E), and (F) as 
subparagraphs (C), (D), and (E), respectively.
(b) Prohibiting the Use of Subpoenas for Bulk Collection of Certain 
Subscriber Information.--Section 2703(c)(2) of title 18, United States 
Code, as amended by subsection (a), is further amended in the matter 
following subparagraph (E), as so redesignated, by inserting ``, 
provided that for any administrative, grand jury, or trial subpoena, 
the governmental entity identifies the subscriber or customer by name, 
address, temporarily assigned network address, or account identifier 
(such as a username)'' before the period at the end.
(c) Prohibiting the Use of Subpoenas With a Purpose To Investigate 
Constitutionally Protected Activities.--Section 2703(c) of title 18, 
United States Code, is further amended by adding at the end the 
following:
``(4) Protections for constitutionally protected 
activities.--
``(A) In general.--A governmental entity may not 
use a subpoena to require the disclosures described in 
paragraph (2) if a purpose of the subpoena is to--
``(i) investigate, monitor, or otherwise 
acquire information about activities, or any 
person's engagement in activities, that are 
exercises of free speech, press, religion, 
assembly, or petition, or are otherwise 
protected by the Constitution of the United 
States; or
``(ii) retaliate against any person for 
their engagement in activities that are 
exercises of free speech, press, religion, 
assembly, or petition, or are otherwise 
protected by the Constitution of the United 
States.
``(B) Required certification.--
``(i) In general.--A governmental entity 
using a subpoena to require the disclosures 
described in paragraph (2) from a service 
provider shall provide a certification under 
penalty of perjury attesting that the subpoena 
is being made for a legitimate and lawful 
purpose, and not with a purpose described in 
subparagraph (A)--
``(I) to the service provider; and
``(II) when applying for a 
preclusion of notice order under 
section 2705(b), to the court in such 
application.
``(ii) Absence of certification.--A 
subpoena to require the disclosures described 
in paragraph (2) from a service provider shall 
not be valid, and a preclusion of notice order 
under section 2705(b) for such subpoena shall 
not issue, unless the subpoena includes the 
certification described in clause (i).''.
(d) Required Disclosures.--Section 2703(c) of title 18, United 
States Code, is further amended by adding at the end the following:
``(5) Required disclosures to service provider.--
``(A) In general.--Except as provided in 
subparagraph (B)--
``(i) the service provider--
``(I) may notify a customer or 
subscriber of the receipt of the 
subpoena; and
``(II) may consult with an attorney 
in order to obtain legal advice or 
assistance regarding the subpoena; and
``(ii) the government entity shall inform 
the service provider that it--
``(I) is not being directed to not 
notify any other person of the 
existence of the subpoena;
``(II) may notify the customer or 
subscriber of the receipt of the 
subpoena; and
``(III) may consult with an 
attorney in order to obtain legal 
advice or assistance regarding the 
subpoena.
``(B) Exception for nondisclosure orders.--If a 
governmental entity described in subparagraph (A) 
obtains a preclusion of notice order under section 
2705(b)--
``(i) such order may limit the right of the 
service provider described in subparagraph 
(A)(i)(I); and
``(ii) the governmental entity shall modify 
the required disclosures described in 
subclauses (I) and (II) of subparagraph (A)(ii) 
to be consistent with the terms of the 
order.''.
(e) Public Reporting of Use of Administrative Subpoenas.--Section 
2703(c) of title 18, United States Code, is further amended by adding 
at the end the following:
``(6) Reporting of federal use of administrative 
subpoenas.--Each Federal governmental entity that uses an 
administrative subpoena to require the disclosure of 
information under this subsection shall annually publicly 
publish a report containing, for the 1-year period preceding 
the date of the report--
``(A) the number of administrative subpoenas issued 
by the governmental entity, disaggregated by the 
statutory authority under which the administrative 
subpoenas were issued; and
``(B) the number of accounts for which the 
governmental entity received information through an 
administrative subpoena, disaggregated by the statutory 
authority under which the administrative subpoenas were 
issued.''.
<all>