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S. 331119th CongressCrime and Law Enforcement
HALT Fentanyl Act
Sponsored by Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA) · 31 active : 24 Republicans, 6 Democrats, 1 Independent
Latest action: Became Public Law No: 119-26.
Where it standsBecame law5 senators score as swing votes
Became law
- Senate: passedMar 14, 2025
- House: passedJun 12, 2025
- President: Signed into lawJul 16, 2025
Summary
, via Congress.govHalt All Lethal Trafficking of Fentanyl Act or the HALT Fentanyl Act
This act permanently places fentanyl-related substances as a class into schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act. A schedule I controlled substance is a drug, substance, or chemical that has a high potential for abuse; has no currently accepted medical value; and is subject to regulatory controls and administrative, civil, and criminal penalties under the Controlled Substances Act.
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Under the act, offenses involving fentanyl-related substances are triggered by the same quantity thresholds and subject to the same penalties as offenses involving fentanyl analogues (e.g., offenses involving 100 grams or more trigger a 10-year mandatory minimum prison term).
Additionally, the act establishes a new, alternative registration process for certain schedule I research.
The act also makes several other changes to registration requirements for conducting research with controlled substances, including
permitting a single registration for related research sites in certain circumstances,
waiving the requirement for a new inspection in certain situations, and
allowing a registered researcher to perform certain manufacturing activities with small quantities of a substance without obtaining a manufacturing registration.
Finally, the act expresses the sense that Congress agrees with the interpretation of the Controlled Substances Act in
United States v. McCray
, a 2018 case decided by the U.S. District Court for the Western District of New York. In that case, the court held that butyryl fentanyl, a controlled substance, can be considered an analogue of fentanyl even though, under the Controlled Substances Act, the term
Committees and subjects
Committees
- Senate Committee on the Judiciary · SenateReported by · Markup by · Referred to
Subjects
- Administrative law and regulatory procedures
- Department of Justice
- Drug trafficking and controlled substances
- Licensing and registrations
- Research administration and funding
Model
Directional: count only breaks toward the other partyWhy do scores change?v3default (selected)v2 model swing-v2
How the Senate breaks down
- 5Swing 70–100
- 50Middle 30–70
- 45Entrenched 0–30
Members fall into . All 100 senators have enough data to score.
Key players in the Senate
Ranked by swing score, 0–100 · swing-v3Bars show each input from 0 to 100: ideology gap, scorecard gap, , and the . is the seat’s partisan lean, and shows how much of the input data a score has.
- Ideology gap
Similar past votes, Senate
Earlier behind swing-v3’s inputLoading similar votes
Cosponsors
31 activeShow all 31 cosponsors
- Angus S. King Jr. (I-ME)
- Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV)
- Chuck Grassley (R-IA)
- Eric Schmitt (R-MO)
- Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH)
- John Cornyn (R-TX)
- John Kennedy (R-LA)
- Margaret Wood Hassan (D-NH)
- Mark Kelly (D-AZ)
- Martin Heinrich (D-NM)
- Mike Rounds (R-SD)
- Roger Marshall (R-KS)
- Ruben Gallego (D-AZ)
- Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV)
- Steve Daines (R-MT)
- Todd Young (R-IN)
- Josh Hawley (R-MO)
- Katie Boyd Britt (R-AL)
- Lindsey Graham (R-SC)
- Marsha Blackburn (R-TN)
- Mike Lee (R-UT)
- Ted Cruz (R-TX)
How the swing score works
Ideology gapHow far a member’s DW-NOMINATE voting score sits from their party’s median in the same chamber.
Scorecard gapHow far their Heritage Action and LCV ratings stray from their party’s average, using the groups’ votes on similar bills where available.
Cross-pressureHow strongly their district or state leans toward the other party, from our own computed partisan lean.
Similar votesHow often they voted against their own party on earlier roll calls about this bill or similar ones.
Committee bonusMembers of the committees handling the bill decide whether it moves, so they get a boost.
Cosponsor checkThe sponsor and active cosponsors have already committed, so they drop toward entrenched.
