H.R. 5143 · 119th Congress

District of Columbia Policing Protection Act of 2025

Introduced on Sep 4, 2025 by Clay Higgins (R-LA-3). 2 cosponsors, all from the sponsor's party. Latest action (Sep 18, 2025): Received in the Senate.

Stage
Passed one chamber
Introduced
Sep 4, 2025
Cosponsors
2
0 from the other party
Policy area
Crime and Law Enforcement
Open in the Congress explorerCongress.govAlert me

Progress

The furthest stage the measure reached. Simple and concurrent resolutions do not go to the President.

  1. Introduced
  2. Reported by committee
  3. Passed one chamber
  4. 4Passed both chambers
  5. 5Sent to the President
  6. 6Became law

Official title

To establish standards for law enforcement officers in the District of Columbia to engage in vehicular pursuits of suspects, and for other purposes.

Subjects

  • Computers and information technology
  • Congressional oversight
  • District of Columbia
  • Law enforcement administration and funding
  • Law enforcement officers
  • Motor vehicles

Summary

By the Congressional Research Service (Introduced in House, Sep 4, 2025). Public domain.

District of Columbia Policing Protection Act

This bill repeals restrictions on the circumstances under which law enforcement officers in the District of Columbia (DC) may engage in vehicular pursuits (i.e., police chases) of suspects fleeing in motor vehicles, and instead generally requires such pursuits in the absence of other means of apprehension.

Currently, pursuant to DC's Comprehensive Policing and Justice Reform Amendment Act of 2022, law enforcement officers generally may not engage in vehicular pursuits of suspects fleeing in motor vehicles unless the officer reasonably believes (1) the suspect was involved in a crime of violence or poses an immediate and serious threat to another person, (2) the pursuit is necessary to prevent that threat and is not likely to result in death or serious injury to any person, and (3) all other options have been exhausted or are unreasonable given the circumstances.

The bill repeals these restrictions and instead requires law enforcement officers to engage in vehicular pursuits of suspects fleeing in motor vehicles unless the officer or a higher-ranking officer reasonably believes that (1) such pursuit would be futile, (2) the pursuit would entail an unacceptable risk of harm to a person other than the suspect, or (3) the suspect can be apprehended more effectively or expeditiously by other means.

The bill also requires the Department of Justice to report to Congress on the costs and benefits of DC’s Metropolitan Police Department adopting technology that alerts the public of an active police pursuit in their immediate vicinity.

Sponsor and cosponsors

Cosponsors by party as of the day they signed on. Original cosponsors signed on the day of introduction.

Clay HigginsR-LA-3Sponsor

Republicans · 2

Roll calls

Recorded votes on the measure. Most measures move by voice vote or unanimous consent, which record no individual positions.

  1. On Passage
    Sep 17, 2025· House· Passage· Passed 245–182

History

Every action as published, oldest first. Roll calls link to how each member voted.

  1. Sep 4, 2025Introduced in House
  2. Sep 4, 2025Introduced in House
  3. Sep 4, 2025 · HouseReferred to the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.
  4. Sep 10, 2025 · HouseCommittee Consideration and Mark-up Session Held
  5. Sep 10, 2025 · HouseOrdered to be Reported (Amended) by the Yeas and Nays: 25 - 20.
  6. Sep 15, 2025 · HouseRules Committee Resolution H. Res. 707 Reported to House. Rule provides for consideration of H.R. 4922, H.R. 5143, H.R. 5140, H.R. 5125, H.R. 1047, H.R. 3015 and H.R. 3062. The resolution provides for consideration of H.R. 4922, H.R. 5143, H.R. 5140, H.R. 5125, H.R. 1047, H.R. 3015, and H.R. 3062 under a closed rule, and provides for a motion to recommit on each measure.
  7. Sep 17, 2025 · HouseConsidered under the provisions of rule H. Res. 707. (consideration: CR H4379)
  8. Sep 17, 2025 · HouseRule provides for consideration of H.R. 4922, H.R. 5143, H.R. 5140, H.R. 5125, H.R. 1047, H.R. 3015 and H.R. 3062. The resolution provides for consideration of H.R. 4922, H.R. 5143, H.R. 5140, H.R. 5125, H.R. 1047, H.R. 3015, and H.R. 3062 under a closed rule, and provides for a motion to recommit on each measure.
  9. Sep 17, 2025 · HouseDEBATE - The House proceeded with one hour of debate on H.R. 5143.
  10. Sep 17, 2025 · HouseThe previous question was ordered pursuant to the rule.
  11. Sep 17, 2025 · HousePOSTPONED PROCEEDINGS - At the conclusion of debate on H.R. 5143, the Chair put the question on passage of the bill, and by voice vote, announced that the ayes had prevailed. Mr. Garcia (CA) demanded the yeas and nays and the Chair postponed further proceedings until a time to be announced.
  12. Sep 17, 2025 · HouseConsidered as unfinished business. (consideration: CR H4395)
  13. Sep 17, 2025Passed/agreed to in House: On passage Passed by the Yeas and Nays: 245 - 182 (Roll no. 275). (text of amendment in the nature of a substitute: CR H4379)House · Roll call 275
  14. Sep 17, 2025 · HouseOn passage Passed by the Yeas and Nays: 245 - 182 (Roll no. 275). (text of amendment in the nature of a substitute: CR H4379)House · Roll call 275
  15. Sep 17, 2025 · HouseMotion to reconsider laid on the table Agreed to without objection.
  16. Sep 18, 2025 · SenateReceived in the Senate.

Committees

Committees and subcommittees the measure was referred to.

Agencies in its committees' jurisdiction

Analisa's mapping of committee jurisdiction to federal agencies; the bill may touch others, or none of these.

Who lobbied on it

Organizations whose lobbying reports (LD-2) name this measure. Spending is what they reported for those quarters on all issues, not on this measure alone.

  1. Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence4 reports
    $160K reported (all issues)
  2. SOUTHERN POVERTY LAW CENTER, INC.3 reports
    $3.4M reported (all issues)
  3. American Civil Liberties Union2 reports
    $920K reported (all issues)
  4. Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights2 reports
    $700K reported (all issues)
  5. Heritage Action for America1 report
    $20K reported (all issues)
  6. LEAGUE OF WOMEN VOTERS OF THE U.S.1 report
    $140K reported (all issues)
  7. SANOFI US SERVICES INC1 report
    $1.1M reported (all issues)

Reports filed in 2025, 2026.

Sources and method

Every figure on this page traces to these records.

  • Bill status: bills and resolutions, sponsors, actions, subjects and CRS summaries (U.S. Government Publishing Office (GovInfo), from Congress.gov (Library of Congress))GovInfo Bill Status bulk data (Congress.gov; summaries by the Congressional Research Service) · data current to Oct 7, 2026 · loaded Oct 7, 2026 · license: Public domain (U.S. Government work, 17 U.S.C. § 105)
  • Members of Congress, their terms, committees and identifiers (The @unitedstates project (from the Biographical Directory of the U.S. Congress, the House and the Senate))unitedstates/congress-legislators: legislators, committees and current committee membership · data current to Oct 3, 2026 · loaded Oct 3, 2026 · license: CC0 1.0 (public domain dedication)
  • House roll-call votes (Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives)Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives, roll-call vote records · data current to Oct 3, 2026 · loaded Oct 3, 2026 · license: Public domain (U.S. Government work, 17 U.S.C. § 105)
  • Senate roll-call votes and DW-NOMINATE scores (Voteview (UCLA Department of Political Science))Lewis, Jeffrey B., Keith Poole, Howard Rosenthal, Adam Boche, Aaron Rudkin, and Luke Sonnet (2026). Voteview: Congressional Roll-Call Votes Database. https://voteview.com/ · data current to Oct 3, 2026 · loaded Oct 3, 2026 · license: Free to use with the required citation
  • Lobbying disclosures (LD-1 registrations, LD-2 quarterly reports, LD-203 contribution reports) (Clerk of the U.S. House of Representatives)Clerk of the House, Lobbying Disclosure Act filings (organizations only; lobbyists' names are not loaded) · data current to Oct 7, 2026 · loaded Oct 7, 2026 · license: Public domain (U.S. Government work, 17 U.S.C. § 105)
  • Positions are shown only where a roll call recorded them; voice votes and unanimous consent record none.
  • Money and votes are shown side by side; neither explains the other.