This bill directs federal agencies to promote civil commitment and institutional treatment for certain people who are unhoused, and to give priority or restrict federal grants based on how States and cities enforce laws on public drug use, camping, loitering, and squatting. It orders the Attorney General and the Secretary of Health and Human Services to seek reversal of court precedents or consent decrees that limit civil commitment, to help States adopt flexible commitment and step-down treatment standards, and to assess grant programs for priority to jurisdictions that meet listed enforcement criteria. The bill also directs agencies to review and, where allowed, limit federal support for programs described as harm reduction or safe consumption sites, to provide technical help to assisted outpatient treatment programs, and to coordinate transfers of eligible persons to mental hospitals or asylums. The bill includes definitions for terms such as "unhoused individual," "urban camping," and "urban squatting." It was introduced in the House on November 20, 2025, by Representatives Tim Burchett and Nancy Mace and referred to multiple committees.
If this bill became law, federal agencies would be required to: promote and assist State and local efforts to use civil commitment and institutional treatment for some unhoused people; give grant priority to jurisdictions that enforce prohibitions on public drug use, camping, loitering, and squatting; review recipients of homelessness assistance that operate safe consumption sites; and encourage housing programs to require treatment for participants with substance use or serious mental illness. The bill would also ask agencies to coordinate on moving eligible people to mental hospitals or similar facilities and to increase accountability for homelessness programs.
No publicly available information on overall federal cost estimates or budget effects. The bill would direct agencies to shift discretionary grant priorities and could affect how existing grant funds are used. It also references use of existing programs (for example, the Emergency Federal Law Enforcement Assistance Program) and possible freezing or redirection of HUD assistance, but it does not provide numeric cost or savings figures.
According to the bill text, proponents seek to protect public safety by restoring civil commitment procedures, fighting vagrancy, and redirecting Federal resources toward what the bill describes as effective methods of addressing homelessness, including institutional treatment and step-down care.
No publicly available information on opponents' views in the bill text or provided metadata.