Coast Guard Authorization Act of 2024
Latest action. Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.
Coast Guard Authorization Act of 2024
This bill reauthorizes certain Coast Guard authorities and programs through FY2026, including by extending current levels for active-duty personnel and military training student loads. The bill also modifies several existing policies and programs.
Among other provisions, the bill
authorizes the Coast Guard to act to protect against damage or destruction resulting from cyber incidents, transnational organized crime, or foreign state threats;
exempts service life extension programs from certain requirements for acquisition projects or programs;
provides the Coast Guard with direct hire authority to appoint Coast Guard Academy civilian faculty;
provides members of certain reserve components with up to 12 inactive-duty training periods of parental leave; and
expands benefits for individuals who are participating in the Career Intermission Program to include benefits such as disability and death benefits.
The bill also
requires the Coast Guard to establish location specific tsunami evacuation plans for units and sectors located in areas that have a high or very high risk of a tsunami,
establishes certain notice requirements for foreign vessels operating on the Outer Continental Shelf,
amends the requirements for certain merchant mariner credentials, and
requires higher-level review for certain determinations regarding the retention of an officer whose record includes a sexual assault offense.
Further, the bill requires the Coast Guard to provide Congress reports detailing the status of the Polar Security Cutter program, among other reporting requirements.
Additionally, the bill authorizes appropriations for the acquisition of additional vessels and aircraft, information technology modernization, and shoreside infrastructure.
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Introduced in House" stage on March 13, 2024. It describes the bill, it is not the legal text.
Where is it in the process, and what happens next?
4 steps remain before this bill could become law.
The record's latest action, on May 15, 2024: Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.
- Clearing the committees it was referred to, and being scheduled for a floor vote
- Passage by the House
- Passage by the Senate
- The President's signature. If the President vetoes it, two-thirds of both chambers must vote to override.
How likely is it to become law?
Civibrief does not forecast outcomes and this page has no opinion about this one. What the record supports is a base rate, which is a fact about the whole pile, not a prediction about this measure.
In the 118th Congress (2023-24), 274 of the 16,565 bills and joint resolutions introduced became law, about 1.7 percent. That count covers every measure at every stage, including the many that never left committee.
This one is not there yet: 4 steps are still outstanding, listed above.
Has anyone actually voted on it?
No. No roll call in this Congress cites this measure. That is the ordinary outcome: most measures never reach a recorded floor vote, and a committee ends most of them simply by not acting.
A vote is not the only thing that happens to a measure. Hearings, markups, and referrals are all recorded actions, and none of them is a vote of the full chamber.
Who is behind it?
Sam Graves (R-MO) introduced it on March 13, 2024, and 4 members have since signed on as cosponsors.
They come from both major parties: 2 Democrats, 2 Republicans.
Cosponsoring is a formal signature on the text. It is not a commitment to vote for the measure, it does not bind anyone's party, and a long list of cosponsors is a measure of attention rather than of prospects.
How long has it been in play?
It was introduced on March 13, 2024, 911 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 848 days ago, on May 15, 2024.
Measures do not carry over. Anything the 118th Congress has not finished by January 3, 2025 dies when the term ends, and has to be introduced again from the start in the next Congress.
Every answer above is assembled from this measure's own record on Congress.gov and from published counts of what Congress has passed before. Civibrief does not predict outcomes and takes no position on any measure.
Vote history
- HouseIn committee, no floor vote yet
- SenateAwaits House passage
- PresidentAwaits both chambers