Rep. Chip Roy Proposes New Federal Bill on Repeat Offenders

Rep. Chip Roy is introducing a new federal bill focusing on recurrent criminals, positioning himself against state Sen. Mays Middleton as he prepares for a runoff election in Texas this May to replace Attorney General Ken Paxton.

“Soft-on-crime policies have restrained law enforcement and weakened sentencing, letting habitual offenders disrupt our communities and forcing law-abiding citizens to bear the consequences,” he stated in a conversation with Breitbart News. The Career Criminal Responsibility Act aims to impose stringent penalties: repeat violent offenders will face lengthy prison sentences. “My bill will focus on the most serious offenders, revitalize deterrents, and prioritize public safety,” Roy added.

Roy’s Career Criminal Accountability Act of 2026 plans to revise federal sentencing laws to develop a new “three strikes” system. This approach is designed to concentrate on punishing repeat offenders and felons while addressing critiques of earlier similar legislation. Notably, this proposal was put together with input from the Manhattan Institute Police and Public Safety Initiative.

A policy memo provided exclusively to Breitbart highlights that “the federal justice system has weakened since the crime crackdowns of the 1980s” and asserts that “now is the ideal time to implement new laws targeting the most serious repeat violent offenders who are affecting communities nationwide.” The memo points out that a small number of offenders are responsible for a significant number of violent crimes, noting that “over a decade, 56% of violent felons had a criminal history,” with nearly 40% having prior felony convictions and about 15% having prior violent felony convictions.

This legislation seeks to build on the existing federal “three strikes” law established under 18 USC § 3559(c), which allows for life sentences for specific repeat offenders. Nevertheless, the memo also notes criticisms of this system, primarily that “minor non-violent offenses can lead to sentences as harsh as 25 years to life.” To confront these issues, the new proposal aims to enhance the framework by implementing a tiered strike system and escalating sentences according to the crime’s severity.

The bill’s text introduces a new requirement under 18 U.S.C. 3559A, mandating courts to establish if a defendant qualifies as a “three-degree offender” and to sentence them in accordance. This framework instructs courts to track the number of strikes a defendant has acquired based on past convictions, weighing them differently depending on their severity. For instance, “a strikeable misdemeanor conviction is calculated as one-fourth of a strike,” whereas “a strikeable nonviolent felony counts as one-half,” with firearm-related and violent felonies bearing greater weight.

Furthermore, the bill addresses juvenile delinquency, stating that “defendants shall not receive any strikes” for misdemeanor convictions committed while minors. It also allows for certain felonies to carry lesser charges, with non-violent and firearm-related convictions counting towards a strike, while violent felonies have a diminished strike value in comparison to adult convictions.

A significant aspect of this proposal is a credit system that enables the reduction of strikes after a specified period without re-offending. This system intends to “reduce strikes based on lengthy periods of impunity,” while still imposing stricter penalties for severe offenses, especially those related to violent crimes, as outlined in the memo.

The bill stipulates additional sentencing enhancements linked to the most serious crimes, proposing “an extra 10 years in prison” for non-violent felonies and “an additional 15 years” for crimes linked to firearms. It also allows for “consecutive life sentences” in cases of violent felonies where the defendant has multiple qualifying convictions. There are limitations as well: a defendant “is not eligible for a reduced sentence” if their threshold is only based on misdemeanors, and one cannot be classified as a three-strike offender if “all strikes stem from a single criminal act.”

Lastly, the proposal defines a wide range of “strike-eligible crimes,” including various federal and state offenses such as drug trafficking, organized crime, and violent crimes like murder, kidnapping, robbery, and human trafficking. The bill text asserts that these crimes encompass not just federal violations but also related state offenses, including robbery, extortion, and assault with a deadly weapon.