EXCLUSIVE — A bipartisan duo of senators is looking to pull back the curtains on the Justice Department’s efforts to combat Chinese espionage and intellectual property theft.
Dubbed the Countering Chinese Espionage Reporting Act, the forthcoming measure from Sens. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) and Chris Coons (D-DE) seeks to uncover details on how the U.S. agency is combatting the foreign adversary over concerns that have long plagued both political parties.
Blackburn described the bill as paramount to “ensure America’s national security, economy, and intellectual property are protected.”
“We know the Chinese Communist Party is intent on stealing American companies’ intellectual property, government secrets, and military strategy,” Coons added in a statement. “What we don’t know enough about is how they’re doing it, how often, and what more we can do to stop it.”
The measure could present lawmakers with low-hanging fruit for a rare bipartisan win. But floor time is hard to come by as congressional Republicans grapple with ushering a mega “big, beautiful bill” through their slim House and Senate majorities to advance President Donald Trump’s domestic agenda.
The bill from Blackburn and Coons would direct Attorney General Pam Bondi, in coordination with Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, to prepare and make public an annual report for the next seven years detailing actions to counter Chinese espionage and IP theft. The report would also lay out threats from nontraditional foreign spy efforts, such as researchers in U.S. labs, at American universities, and at defense industrial base facilities, and provide an accounting of DOJ resources dedicated to Chinese national security threats.
The DOJ would be required to disclose measures used to ensure the protection of civil rights, civil liberties, and privacy rights of U.S. citizens it may encounter in its efforts to combat China.
The proposal notably comes amid Trump’s trade war with China, which some Republican senators have said presents an opportune moment to crack down on IP theft. Prepandemic U.S. government reports estimated China steals up to $600 billion annually in American IP, a figure that is likely far higher today when accounting for inflation.
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The bill also comes after espionage episodes in recent years that have escalated tensions between the two nations, including Chinese spy balloons flown over the United States and a secret Chinese police station operating out of New York in an effort by Beijing to silence Chinese nationals abroad.
The DOJ did not respond to a request for comment about the pending legislation.