Only the right has signed this so far (Bill Ranking)
S. 67 · 119th Congress (2025-2026)
1 member · Left 0 · Center 0 · Right 1 (Bill Ranking)
| Sponsor | Sen. Schmitt, Eric (R-MO) (Introduced 01/09/2025) |
|---|---|
| Sponsor Voting Record | Right · DW-NOMINATE +0.88 · measured from every roll-call vote this member has cast (voteview.com) (Sponsor Ranking) |
| Support |
LLLCLRR support across the spectrum: 1 member signed on (Bill Ranking) this bill: sponsor + current cosponsors, each once |
| Committees | Senate - Judiciary Committee |
| Latest Action | 01/09/2025 Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary. |
| Roll Call Votes | There have been no roll call votes |
| Source | view on congress.gov → |
Introduced in Senate (01/09/2025)
Censorship Accountability Act
This bill creates a new federal cause of action for the deprivation of any rights, privileges, or immunities secured by the First Amendment by a federal employee acting under color of any statute, ordinance, custom, or usage of the United States.
The term federal employee means an individual, other than the President or Vice President, who occupies a position in the Executive Branch.
119 S67 IS: Censorship Accountability Act U.S. Senate 2025-01-09 text/xml EN Pursuant to Title 17 Section 105 of the United States Code, this file is not subject to copyright protection and is in the public domain. II119th CONGRESS1st SessionS. 67IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATESJanuary 9, 2025Mr. Schmitt introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the JudiciaryA BILLTo provide for a right of action against Federal employees for violations of rights secured by the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States, and for other purposes.
1.Short titleThis Act may be cited as the Censorship Accountability Act.2.Right of action against Federal employees for violations of rights secured by the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States(a)DefinitionIn this section, the term Federal employee means an individual, other than the President or the Vice President, who occupies a position in any agency or instrumentality in the executive branch of the Federal Government, including in any independent agency in that branch.(b)Liability(1)In generalA Federal employee who, under color of any statute, ordinance, regulation, custom, or usage, of the United States, subjects, or causes to be subjected, any citizen of the United States or any person within the jurisdiction thereof to the deprivation of any rights, privileges, or immunities secured by the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States, shall be liable to the party injured in an action at law, suit in equity, or other proper proceeding for redress.(2)ExceptionUnder paragraph (1), a Federal employee may not bring suit against the agency or instrumentality employing the Federal employee, or against the Federal Government, for conduct that is within the scope of the employment relationship.(c)Attorney’s feesIn any action or proceeding to enforce this section, the court, in the discretion of the court, may allow the prevailing party, other than the United States, a reasonable attorney’s fee as part of the costs.(d)SeverabilityIf any provision of this section, or the application of a provision of this section to any person or circumstance, is held to be unconstitutional, the remainder of this section, and the application of the provisions of this section to any person or circumstance, shall not be affected by that holding.
The bill's own words, from our database (synced from the GPO BILLS XML); paragraph breaks added at the bill's section boundaries, nothing else changed.
| Date | Chamber | All Actions |
|---|---|---|
| 01/09/2025 | Library of Congress | Introduced in Senate |
| 01/09/2025 | Senate | Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary. |
| Title Type | Title |
|---|---|
| Display Title | Censorship Accountability Act |
| Short Title(s) as Introduced | Censorship Accountability Act |
| Official Title as Introduced | A bill for a right of action against Federal employees for violations of rights secured by the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States, and for other purposes. |
There are no amendments to this bill.
There are no cosponsors of this bill.
| Committee | Activity |
|---|---|
| Senate - Judiciary Committee | 01/09/2025 Referred To |
No related bill information was received for S. 67.
Policy Area: Law
All data on this page comes from our own database (legislation.congress_* tables), synced daily from the GPO govinfo BILLSTATUS and BILLS collections. Formatted after congress.gov; nothing is generated. Member placement is their DW-NOMINATE score (voteview.com, Lewis et al.) - a measurement of roll-call voting behavior, not our judgement. Buckets: Left below −0.50 · Lean Left to −0.25 · Center to +0.25 · Lean Right to +0.50 · Right above +0.50. The bill's Support meter aggregates the people who signed the bill - sponsor and current cosponsors, each counted once - nothing else.