No, Congress Did Not Approve The ‘Kill Change’ Regulation

[ad_1] by Sharelle B. McNair February 4, 2026

Primarily, the invoice doesn't give any authorities management to host distant "kill switches" or allow automakers from giving authorities entry to anybody's automobile.

For this reason everybody must be cautious in what they imagine on social media, as Republican leaders unfold false rumors that the U.S. Congress handed a “kill change” laws that may “remotely” shut autos down, Snopes studies.

Rumors unfold on-line in January 2026 that Congress had handed a invoice generally known as the ‘‘Infrastructure Funding and Jobs Act’’ that may permit the federal government to close off vehicles each time it happy. The rumor seemingly began with Texas’s third District Rep. Keith Self, who, on Jan. 22, referred to a vote as “unbelievably disturbing” with claims that “57 Home Republicans simply joined virtually all of the Democrats to make sure the federal government can shut off your automobile each time it desires.”

Then, Florida’s Gov. Ron DeSantis jumped in with a repost. “The concept that the federal authorities would require auto producers to equip vehicles with a ‘kill change’ that may be managed by the federal government is one thing you’d count on in Orwell’s 1984, and but…,” the failed presidential candidate wrote.

The concept that the federal authorities would require auto producers to equip vehicles with a “kill change” that may be managed by the federal government is one thing you’d count on in Orwell’s 1984, and but… https://t.co/B1KtC5gNbb

— Ron DeSantis (@RonDeSantis) January 23, 2026

Nonetheless, that isn’t the case.

What Self and DeSantis had been referring to was a failed 2026 plan to cease a signed 2021 bipartisan invoice beneath the Biden-Harris Administration that may require the automotive trade to put in expertise to determine the results of drunken driving and “forestall or restrict motorized vehicle operation” upon detection.

Primarily, the invoice doesn't grant the federal government management to host distant “kill switches” or allow automakers to offer the federal government entry to anybody’s automobile. However beneath Part 24220, the Nationwide Freeway Site visitors Security Administration is anticipated to mandate “superior impaired-driving prevention expertise” in all new passenger autos.

Whereas some might even see the laws as a option to preserve drunk drivers off the highway, lawmakers have raised constitutional alarms. In line with CBT Information, there received’t be a requirement for breathalyzers or regulation enforcement involvement. Simply judgment made by the expertise. There may be additionally the difficulty of drivers overcoming the lockout, as there are not any parameters for the way drivers will get out of what critics name “kill change jail.”

The critique was began by fellow Republican lawmaker Thomas Massie of Kentucky, who posted criticism on X. “When your automobile shuts down as a result of it doesn’t approve of your driving, how will you enchantment your roadside conviction?” he wrote Jan. 21.

The looming Orwellian car kill change deadline threatens civil liberties. When your automobile shuts down as a result of it would not approve of your driving, how will you enchantment your roadside conviction?

I’ve provided an modification this week to defund this federal mandate. pic.twitter.com/bhAM9CzSbW

— Thomas Massie (@RepThomasMassie) January 21, 2026

Finally, 57 Republican and 211 Democratic members of Congress voted towards Massie’s requires an modification to dam the drunken-driving detection expertise mandate and any federal spending on Part 24220 enforcement.