Companies and individuals who violate telemarketing rules, like robocalling or auto-dialing consumers without consent, are sometimes fined by the Federal Communications Commission, but those fines currently can only be collected through a lawsuit filed by the Department of Justice. This bill lets the FCC pursue collection itself, filing and supervising the lawsuit directly, if the Justice Department hasn't taken action within 120 days of a referral. The Commission is directed to prioritize collecting unpaid fines larger than $25,000,000 first. The bill also tightens the standard the FCC must use when deciding whether to exempt certain types of calls from robocall restrictions, requiring any exemption to be judged necessary to protect subscribers from unwanted calls.
Average Household Impact
- FCC enforcement authority — May sue to collect unpaid robocall fines if DOJ misses 120-day deadline
- Autodialer exemption standard — Must be judged necessary to protect subscribers from unwanted calls
Congressional Summary
FCC Legal Enforcement ActThis bill authorizes the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to pursue certain unpaid fines related to unauthorized telemarketing calls.Under current law, the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) prohibits certain telemarketing calls made without the recipient’s consent and using automatic dialing technology or artificial or prerecorded voice messages. The Department of Justice (DOJ) has authority to pursue unpaid fines for TCPA violations.Under the bill, if DOJ does not pursue an unpaid fine related to a TCPA violation within a specified period, the FCC may do so. The bill directs the FCC to prioritize the collection of unpaid fines over $25 million.
Details
- Congress
- 119th
- Chamber
- Senate
- Status
- summarized
- Action
- Introduced in Senate
- Action Date
- 2025-03-13
- Date Added
- 2026-07-02
- Source
- Congress.gov →
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