PAID OFF Act of 2025
Summary
What This Bill Does
The PAID OFF Act narrows Foreign Agents Registration Act exemptions for agents representing foreign principals that are corporate or government entities owned or controlled by countries of concern listed in the State Department Basic Authorities Act. Those agents could no longer rely on the FARA exemptions in subsections (d)(1), (d)(2), and (h). The bill also creates a mechanism for the Secretary of State, in consultation with the Attorney General, to propose adding or deleting countries from the country-of-concern list, with the change taking effect only after Congress enacts a joint resolution of approval.
Who Benefits and How
Justice Department FARA enforcement staff benefit because agents of country-of-concern-controlled corporate or government principals would have fewer exemption paths. Congressional foreign-relations and judiciary leaders benefit because proposed changes to the country list must be submitted to them and approved by joint resolution. The public benefits from more registration transparency around foreign influence, disinformation, and obscured foreign financing linked to covered countries.
Who Bears the Burden and How
Lobbying, public-relations, legal, or consulting firms representing covered foreign principals bear new registration and compliance risk because three FARA exemptions would no longer apply. Foreign government-controlled companies from listed countries face reduced ability to use U.S. agents without FARA registration. State Department country-of-concern policy staff and Justice Department FARA staff must coordinate any list-change proposals and implement the five-year statutory regime. Congress must process any joint resolution approving additions or deletions.
Key Provisions
- Amends FARA so exemptions in subsections (d)(1), (d)(2), and (h) do not apply to agents of foreign principals owned or controlled by listed countries of concern.
- Applies the limitation to foreign principals that are corporate or government entities controlled by countries listed in section 1(m)(1)(A) of the State Department Basic Authorities Act.
- Authorizes the Secretary of State, after consulting the Attorney General, to propose adding or deleting countries from that list.
- Requires list modifications to be submitted to specified Senate and House leaders and to take effect only through a joint resolution of approval.
- Sunsets the bill's amendments five years after enactment.
Evidence Chain:
This summary is generated from the full bill text using AI analysis. Expand "Detailed Analysis" below for identified beneficiaries/burden bearers with clause-level evidence links.
At a Glance
What This Bill Does
Limits Foreign Agents Registration Act exemptions for agents of foreign principals owned or controlled by specified countries of concern and creates a congressional approval process for changing that country list.
Key Policy Areas
Foreign Influence, National Security, Congressional Oversight
Primary Purpose
Limits Foreign Agents Registration Act exemptions for agents of foreign principals owned or controlled by specified countries of concern and creates a congressional approval process for changing that country list.
Policy Domains
FARA exemption limits for country-of-concern principals
Identified Gains
- Justice Department FARA enforcement staff
- Senate Foreign Relations Committee leaders
- House Judiciary Committee leaders
- U.S. voters seeking foreign-influence transparency
Identified Costs
- Agents of country-of-concern foreign principals
- Foreign government-controlled companies from listed countries
- State Department country-of-concern policy staff
- Congressional committees processing approval resolutions
Sponsors
Legislative Progress
ReportedReported by Mr. Risch, without amendment
Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. …
Committee on Foreign Relations. Reported by Senator Risch without amendment. …
Committee on Foreign Relations. Ordered to be reported without amendment …
Mr. Cornyn (for himself, Mr. Whitehouse, Mr. Risch, Mrs. Fischer, …
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations.
Introduced in Senate
Mr. Cornyn (for himself, Mr. Whitehouse, Mr. Risch, Mrs. Fischer, …
Stakeholder Effects
cui bono?How this legislation distributes effects. Mention counts reflect frequency, not effect magnitude.
Congressional committee leaders, Federal legislative records staff, House Judiciary Committee leaders
Foreign-agent legal representatives, Legislative compliance counsel
Listed-country government entities, United States public-information users
Positive-direction: United States public-information users
Negative-direction: Listed-country government entities
Bill Structure & Actor Mappings
Who is "The Secretary" in each section?
- "agent"
- → Agent of a covered foreign principal
- "attorney_general"
- → Attorney General
- "foreign_principal"
- → Corporate or government entity owned or controlled by a listed country of concern
- "secretary_of_state"
- → Secretary of State
Key Definitions
Terms defined in this bill
A no-preamble joint resolution approving a State Department proposal to add or delete countries from the country-of-concern definition.
We use a combination of our own taxonomy and classification in addition to large language models to assess meaning and potential beneficiaries. High confidence means strong textual evidence. Always verify with the original bill text.
Learn more about our methodology