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HR 7632

SHADOW Act

119th Congress Introduced by Jim Baird and 4 co-sponsors

Establishes a Coordinator to unify U.S. and allied efforts against hybrid warfare, share intelligence, and sanction Chinese entities aiding Russia’s defense base.

Committee Consideration and Mark-up Session Held
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Bill Summary · HR 7632

Summary of HR 7632 (119th Congress) — SHADOW Act (Strategic Hybrid Activities Defense and Operations for the West Act)

Purpose and overall aim
- Designates a Coordinator for hybrid warfare accountability and requires a Treasury-like set of interagency and allied coordination tools to address hybrid threats.
- Specifically focuses on: assessing hybrid warfare threats, coordinating U.S. and allied responses (including NATO), sharing intelligence and attribution language with partners, and identifying Chinese entities that materially support Russia’s defense industrial base to justify sanctions or export controls.

Key provisions and changes the bill would implement

1) Short title
- Establishes the SHADOW Act as the legislative vehicle.

2) Assessment and engagement relating to hybrid warfare activities
- Secretary of State must:
- Assess persistent and growing hybrid warfare threats (including in Europe) as a key foreign policy concern.
- Engage diplomatically with foreign governments (notably Europe) to promote transatlantic cooperation against hybrid threats that threaten NATO, citizens, institutions, or stability.
- Encourage closer U.S.-NATO information sharing on hybrid warfare, including:
- Common attribution language
- Shared red lines for disruptive activities
- Coordinated non-kinetic response options
- Common definitions for gray zone activities

3) Coordinator for Hybrid Warfare Accountability
- Appointment:
- Within 30 days after enactment, designate a senior State Department official to serve as the principal coordinator for all U.S. interagency and allied engagement on hybrid warfare, reporting to the Under Secretary for Political Affairs.
- Duties:
- Oversee collecting, assessing, and disseminating information on hybrid warfare (including Chinese/Russian-linked and non-state actors) for diplomacy, interagency strategy, and allied coordination.
- Identify analytic and operational gaps in U.S. understanding of hybrid threats and propose ways to address them.
- Coordinate with NATO and key partners (e.g., South Korea, Japan, Australia, New Zealand) to facilitate timely information sharing and align response strategies.
- Support resilience and de-risking efforts with allies in sectors vulnerable to foreign coercion (critical infrastructure, communications, energy, strategic materials).
- Plan and reporting:
- Within 60 days of designation, the Secretary must submit:
- The Coordinator’s name
- A strategy describing how the Coordinator will support interagency and allied efforts
- Beginning 1 year after designation and annually for 3 years, the Coordinator must submit reports detailing:
- Key assessments/findings on hybrid warfare
- Progress on interagency/ally coordination
- Measures to support resilience and de-risking with partners
- Reports may be classified if needed for sources/methods

4) Definitions: Hybrid warfare activities
- Defines hybrid warfare broadly to include a mix of military/non-military, covert/overt actions designed to influence, destabilize, or undermine U.S. interests.
- Examples include:
- Information campaigns targeting U.S. interests
- Cyber-attacks
- Economic coercion or manipulation
- Deployment of operatives, irregular forces, or uses of regular forces in destabilizing ways
- Weaponization of migration flows
- Sabotage or disruption of critical infrastructure (energy, telecom, undersea)
- Targeted assassinations or attempted assassinations as part of coercive strategies

5) Report on the nexus of Chinese entities and Russia’s defense base
- Not later than 180 days after enactment, the Coordinator must, in consultation with other federal agencies, identify Chinese entities that materially support Russia’s defense industrial base and recommend sanctions, export controls, or other measures as appropriate.
- Format:
- Unclassified report, with optional classified annex for sensitive sources/methods
- Public release of the unclassified portion on the State Department website

6) Congressional committees defined
- “Appropriate congressional committees” are the House Foreign Affairs Committee and the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

Who would be affected

  • U.S. Department of State:
    • Creation of the Hybrid Warfare Coordinator position and expansion of interagency coordination duties.
    • Requirement to produce strategic plans and annual reports.
  • U.S. and international partners:
    • Enhanced information sharing and aligned response planning with NATO and selected allies (South Korea, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, etc.).
  • Chinese entities:
    • Potential scrutiny and subsequent sanctions/export controls if identified as materially supporting Russia’s defense base.
  • The broader U.S. government:
    • Increased interagency engagement on hybrid threats (including cyber, economic, information, and infrastructure domains).

Timelines and procedural notes

  • Designation deadline:
    • The Coordinator must be designated within 30 days after enactment.
  • Plan submission:
    • A formal plan detailing the Coordinator and strategy due within 60 days after designation.
  • Reporting:
    • Initial annual report due 1 year after designation, with subsequent annual reports for three additional years (4 total reports after the first).
    • Reports may be classified or unclassified as needed; unclassified portions published publicly (Sec. 4).
  • Public accessibility:
    • Unclassified portions of the China-Russia nexus report must be published on the State Department’s public website (Sec. 4).

Overall impact

  • Establishes a formal, structured architecture to identify, coordinate, and respond to hybrid warfare threats.
  • Promotes closer U.S.-NATO and allied collaboration with standardized terminology, thresholds, and response options.
  • Creates a mechanism to assess and potentially sanction Chinese entities implicated in supporting Russia’s defense sector, aiming to deter and constrain such activities.
  • Increases transparency through regular oversight reporting to Congress, with some information potentially kept classified to protect sources and methods.

Compiled from official sources — confirm details with the bill’s official record.

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