Rep. Eric Burlison’s revised UAP disclosure amendment has cleared a key procedural hurdle in the House Rules Committee, potentially setting the stage for the most significant House vote yet on comprehensive UAP transparency legislation.
A revised version of Rep. Eric Burlison’s (R-Mo.) sweeping Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAP) disclosure amendment has cleared an important procedural hurdle, potentially setting up the first House floor consideration of legislation closely modeled on the original bipartisan UAP Disclosure Act proposed in 2023.
The House Rules Committee has designated Burlison’s revised amendment as “Made in Order,” meaning it is eligible for consideration when the House debates the Fiscal Year 2027 National Defense Authorization Act (H.R. 8800). The committee met July 20 to finalize floor procedures before debate on the annual defense bill.
The updated amendment, dated July 15, makes several procedural changes while preserving most of the legislation’s central provisions. Notably, references assigning oversight responsibilities to the House and Senate Armed Services and Intelligence committees have been removed. Oversight responsibilities now focus on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee and the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee.
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Despite those revisions, the proposal continues to mirror much of the original Schumer-Rounds UAP Disclosure Act introduced in 2023. It would establish a temporary federal review board—appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate—to identify, collect, and facilitate the public release of government records related to UAP.
The legislation also retains some of its most debated language. It defines “non-human intelligence” as any sentient non-human life form potentially responsible for UAP and references “technologies of unknown origin” lacking conventional human attribution. It further authorizes the federal government to acquire recovered technologies and biological evidence through eminent domain if such materials are held by private entities.
Whether the amendment ultimately receives a stand-alone vote or is incorporated into a larger package of amendments remains uncertain. That distinction could prove significant. Amendments included in an en bloc package generally advance automatically to House-Senate conference negotiations, while amendments defeated in individual floor votes often face steeper odds of surviving the legislative process.
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According to congressional researcher Douglas Dean Johnson, no amendment explicitly addressing UAP or UFO disclosure has ever received a stand-alone roll-call vote on the floor of either chamber of Congress. Previous UAP-related provisions that became law were adopted as part of negotiated amendment packages rather than through separate recorded votes.
Meanwhile, the Senate’s version of the FY2027 NDAA remains stalled after debate was delayed amid broader disputes over defense spending. Senators Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) have reintroduced their own updated UAP Disclosure Act as Senate Amendment 6344, which includes new language clarifying that the measure would not create additional access to classified Special Access Programs.
Because the annual defense authorization bill is considered must-pass legislation, both House and Senate UAP proposals could ultimately be reconciled during conference negotiations later this year.
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