ECCHO Act
Latest action. Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.
Ending Coercion of Children and Harm Online or the ECCHO Act
This bill establishes a federal framework to combat the online coercion of minors to commit harm. The bill creates new criminal offenses, expands reporting of instances involving the online coercion of minors, facilitates the prosecution of offenders, and expands protections for minors who testify in court.
Specifically, the bill makes it a crime to intentionally coerce a minor to
commit suicide (or attempt to);
kill someone (or attempt to);
kill a pet, emotional support animal, service animal, or horse (or attempt to);
physically harm an individual (including the minor), pet, emotional support animal, service animal, or horse; or
commit (or attempt to commit) arson or certain other acts such as doxxing or swatting.
A violation (or conspiracy or attempt to commit a violation) is subject to a fine, a prison term, or both.
The bill requires electronic communication service providers and remote computing service providers to report instances of online coercion of minors to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children via the CyberTipline.
The bill facilitates the federal prosecution of offenses committed by (1) individuals as part of a child exploitation enterprise, and (2) minors in certain circumstances.
The bill extends various protections for minors who testify in court (e.g., certain privacy protections) to those who are victims of or witnesses to crimes involving mental injury (i.e., psychological or intellectual harm to a child) or the negligent treatment of a child.
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Introduced in Senate" stage on December 9, 2025. 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 December 9, 2025: Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.
- Clearing the committees it was referred to, and being scheduled for a floor vote
- Passage by the Senate
- Passage by the House
- 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?
Chuck Grassley (R-IA) introduced it on December 9, 2025, and 16 members have since signed on as cosponsors.
They come from both major parties: 9 Democrats, 6 Republicans, 1 independent.
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 December 9, 2025, 275 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 275 days ago, on December 9, 2025.
Measures do not carry over. Anything the 119th Congress has not finished by January 3, 2027 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
- SenateIn committee, no floor vote yet
- HouseAwaits Senate passage
- PresidentAwaits both chambers