H.R. 7856: Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021

116th Congress · introduced 2020-07-30 · Armed Forces and National Security · Latest: Placed on the Union Calendar, Calendar No. 463.

federal

Follow this bill, step by step

Where it came from: introduced 2020-07-30 · official record
Who proposed it: Rep. Schiff, Adam B. [D-CA-28] · what a sponsor is
What happened next: no floor votes in our records yet. Why?
Where it stands now: Placed on the Union Calendar, Calendar No. 463. Not final yet: this can still change. We check for updates every day.
If it becomes law and spends money: follow the money to money laws, then agencies and contracts and grants.

What does this mean?

Official title

Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021

Plain summary

Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021 This bill authorizes various intelligence-related activities for FY2021 and contains other related provisions. The bill's provisions include those requiring each intelligence community element to notify Congress before conducting certain activities, including providing support to a government response to a domestic civil disturbance, with some exceptions, or engaging in an activity pursuant to a presidential emergency action document; generally prohibiting the intelligence community from awarding a contract for a national security satellite that uses a star tracker not produced in the United States; providing for paid leave for a civilian intelligence community employee to address a serious health condition; establishing the Office of the Ombudsman for Analytic Objectivity; requiring the Department of Homeland Security to establish an intelligence and cybersecurity diversity fellowship program, which may provide an eligible individual with a paid internship or employment offer upon graduation; imposing certain protections related to intelligence community inspectors general, such as by limiting when the President may remove such an inspector general and limiting who may serve as an acting inspector general; providing for criminal penalties in certain instances for a federal government employee or officer who knowingly and willfully discloses the identity of an intelligence community whistleblower; requiring a political committee to report certain foreign contacts and establishing criminal penalties for violations of such requirements in certain instances; and prohibiting the use of funds made available to the intelligence community for FY2021 to enable or assist air strikes in Yemen by the Saudi Arabia-led coalition.

Congressional Research Service summary (Reported to House), quoted unchanged (nonpartisan). Read the source.

What a vote does

A “Yea” vote

If it passes both chambers and is signed, it becomes law.

A “Nay” vote

If it is not passed, current law stays as it is.

PSI Sci description of the legislative step (not an opinion).

What does this mean? (plain words)

Official text

Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021

Source: Congressional Research Service summary (Reported to House)

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The strongest published arguments

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How did my representative vote? · This bill's floor votes

Officials and money

Sponsor: Rep. Schiff, Adam B. [D-CA-28] · 0 cosponsors

Cost estimate: CBO cost estimate: H.R. 7856, Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021 (2020-12-01)

Sponsor's campaign money: Rep. Schiff, Adam B. [D-CA-28] reported raising $10.4 million (2025–2026). Details. Shown for context only; it does not mean any donor supported this bill.

No linked floor roll calls in our collected records yet. This does not mean the bill has never had a vote. Check the official bill history.

Words on this page, explained (4)

Authorization: A law that creates or continues a government program and says what it may do, often with a suggested spending ceiling. An authorization alone does not provide money; a separate appropriation does.
Bill: A proposed law. It becomes law only if it passes the legislature and is signed by the president or governor (or a veto is overridden).
Fiscal year: The 12-month period a government uses for its budget. The federal fiscal year runs from October 1 to September 30 and is named for the calendar year in which it ends. Most states use July 1 to June 30.
Securities: Financial investments that can be bought and sold, such as stocks and bonds.

Plain meanings written from linked sources. All words.

Sources

Congressional Research Service summary (Reported to House)
Congress.gov
Data: GovInfo BILLSTATUS bulk data (Library of Congress), BILLSTATUS-116hr7856.xml <https://www.govinfo.gov/bulkdata/BILLSTATUS/116/hr>

Record fed-us-cong116-hr7856 · catalog fed-us-congress-bills-cong116 · updated 2026-11-15 by psicol fed-bills-cong116