S5009Referred to Committee

MERIT Act of 2026

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Introduced
In Committee
3
Passed One Chamber
4
Passed Both
5
Signed into Law
119th
Congress
2026-07-16
Introduced
0
Cosponsors
S
ⓘ
Type

Sponsor

Elissa Slotkin
Elissa Slotkin
Democrat · MI · Senator
Votes with party: 79.5% (834 recorded votes)

Full profile: /officials/S001208

Source: Congress.gov · FEC

Cosponsors (0)

Members who have signed on to support this bill since introduction. Source: Congress.gov.

No cosponsors on record. Bills can pass without cosponsors — this often means the sponsor introduced the bill alone, either because it's a messaging bill, a chairman's mark, or simply early in the legislative cycle.

Latest Action

The most recent step in the bill's legislative path. Committee Activity below shows referrals and reports; the full action-by-action history including floor proceedings lives at Congress.gov →

Read twice and referred to the Select Committee on Intelligence.

2026-07-16

Source: Congress.gov

Committee Activity

Currently in

Plain-English Summary

The bill would require that anyone temporarily serving as Director of National Intelligence must have the same extensive national security qualifications that the permanent director needs, rather than allowing someone without those credentials to fill the role on an acting basis. This affects how the intelligence community operates during transitions or vacancies in leadership by ensuring continuity of expertise in this critical national security position.

AI-assisted summary generated from the official bill metadata (title, subjects, actions) sourced from Congress.gov. Cached and reviewed. Always verify against the official text linked below.

Full Bill Text

Verbatim text published on Congress.gov via GovInfo. Use Cmd+F / Ctrl+F to search within this excerpt.

119 S5009 IS: Minimum Experience Requirements for Intelligence Transition Act of 2026 U.S. Senate 2026-07-16 text/xml EN Pursuant to Title 17 Section 105 of the United States Code, this file is not subject to copyright protection and is in the public domain. II119th CONGRESS2d SessionS. 5009IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATESJuly 16, 2026Ms. Slotkin introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Select Committee on IntelligenceA BILLTo ensure that any individual serving as Director of National Intelligence in an acting capacity possesses the qualifications required of the Director of National Intelligence to have extensive national security expertise, and for other purposes.1.Short titleThis Act may be cited as the Minimum Experience Requirements for Intelligence Transition Act of 2026 or the MERIT Act of 2026.2.Expertise of acting Director of National IntelligenceSection 102(a) of the National Security Act of 1947 (50 U.S.C. 3023(a)) is amended, in the second sentence, by inserting or serving as Director of National Intelligence in an acting capacity, including any official performing the duties of such position, before shall have.
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