Congress is out of session until Monday, November 9 for the midterm campaign. No new roll-call votes until then; the last were the House on Sep 16 and the Senate on Sep 30.

Issues / Privacy and Surveillance / Event · Sep 15 – Oct 2, 2026

Ban Flock Act

Three members of Congress introduced legislation to restrict federal use of automatic license plate readers. Senator Bernie Sanders, along with Representatives Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Jeff Merkley, introduced a bill to prohibit federal agencies from using the technology. Representative Raja Krishnamoorthi introduced separate bipartisan legislation to restrict law enforcement abuse of the systems. Senator Sherrod Brown sent a letter demanding FBI transparency on surveillance system purchases.

AI summary of the releases below · Oct 8, 2026

5Members · 5 D · 0 R
3Actions · 3 D · 0 R
5States & territories · OR · NY · VT · OH lead
0Bills named

How the conversation moved

Democrat Republican · one dot = one action
Action typeWk ofSep 3Wk ofSep 101Wk ofSep 17Wk ofSep 24Wk ofOct 12Total
Sent lettersTo agencies, companies, officials 1
Filed or pushed billsNew, reintroduced or passed 2

Where they stand

Support · 3

  • DMerkley ORIntroduced legislation to ban automatic license plate readers
  • ISanders VTIntroduced bill to ban AI-powered surveillance cameras and license plate readers
  • DKrishnamoorthi ILIntroduced bipartisan bill to prevent license plate reader abuse

Oppose · 2

  • DOcasio-Cortez NYOpposes AI-powered automatic license plate reader surveillance technology
  • DBrown OHDemanded answers on FBI's planned acquisition of Flock surveillance systems

What each party did · Democrats 3 · Republicans 0

  • 1Sent letters0
  • 2Filed or pushed bills0

By state

  • OR1
  • NY1
  • VT1
  • OH1
  • IL1

Every action

3 actions · 5 releases
  1. Oct 2, 2026
  2. Sep 15, 2026

Summaries, action types, amounts and positions are read from each press release by AI and can be wrong. Joint releases (same day, same action, matching title or amount) count once. How it works