November 12, 2025

The Foreign Robocall Elimination Act Moves to the Senate for a Vote

Governments and telecom industry leaders have made great strides toward preventing robocalls. Importantly, the United States, Canada, and France have implemented STIR/SHAKEN protocols to verify caller identities.

Despite those efforts, people in the U.S. still receive robocalls that should have been blocked. That typically happens when robocalls originate overseas, which makes tracking and enforcement more difficult.

The good news is that the U.S. Senate is working on the Foreign Robocall Elimination Act, which creates another tool to help eliminate these annoying security risks.

What Is the Foreign Robocall Elimination Act?

The Foreign Robocall Elimination Act creates an interagency task force with members from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), Federal Trade Commission (FTC), and Department of Justice (DOJ). The task force will investigate and mitigate robocalls originating overseas.

The task force will have the authority to:

• Collect and process data related to foreign robocalls
• Create strategies to combat foreign robocalls
• Strengthen international cooperation to mitigate robocalls in multiple jurisdictions
• Help the DOJ develop the resources it needs to enforce and prosecute robocalls that originate from other countries
• Require each service provider to secure a $100,000 bond when it gets added to the Robocall Mitigation Database (RMD)

Foreign Robocall Elimination Act Proceeds to the Senate

Senators Ted Budd (R-N.C.) and Peter Welch (D-VT) introduced the Foreign Robocall Elimination Act last summer. It recently passed the Senate Commerce Committee. The Act can now be brought before the full U.S. Senate for a vote.

At this time, no one knows when it will come to the Senate, especially given how much uncertainty the government shutdown has created. Still, there is a strong chance that many Democrats, Republicans, and Independents will see a clear need for stopping robocalls.

Increased Robocalls Remain a Nuisance

Senators will likely understand why the U.S. government needs a dedicated task force because foreign robocalls impact consumers in every state. Despite improved technology and enhanced enforcement, approximately 40.8 billion robocalls have targeted U.S. consumers in 2025.

The number of robocalls reaching people has decreased over the years. In 2019, 58.5 billion reached U.S. consumers. In 2023, 55 billion evaded security.

While the numbers show improvement, a concerning number of people receive robocalls each day. Those calls can do more than annoy consumers. Some are designed to commit identity fraud. Others use AI technologies to spread false information intended to influence elections.

American businesses and consumers deserve a system that protects them from dangers while promoting useful communications. Passing the Foreign Robocall Elimination Act would help achieve this goal.

STIR/SHAKEN Implementation Has Declined in the U.S.

STIR/SHAKEN technology has given regulators and industry leaders several great tools. Importantly, it provides the foundation for collecting and tracking information about calls. Without STIR/SHAKEN, regulators would struggle to identify where threats originate.

Despite that, some industry watchdogs say there’s been a recent surge in scam and telemarketing robocalls. Even more troubling, many companies haven’t installed the technology, even though the government requires it.

In some cases, companies have legitimate reasons for their delays. Regardless, every service provider that doesn’t keep up with security technology creates opportunities for scammers to target the public.

While regulators might need to make some concessions as companies try to catch up, the government also needs to protect businesses and consumers. Ideally, the Foreign Robocall Elimination Act would create a task force capable of closing loopholes.

Operation Robocall Roundup Removes 1200 VSPs

The Foreign Robocall Elimination Act isn’t the only impressive move in telecommunications security in 2025. In August, the FCC announced that it had blocked 1,200 voice service providers (VSPs) for failing to comply with anti-robocall regulations.

The government gave VPSs multiple chances to comply. In 2024, the FCC contacted more than 2,400 VSPs. The FCC’s letters asked companies why they should remain on the RMD even though they were violating rules.

Many of the VSPs had good reasons or were able to comply quickly. Those that didn’t meet expectations, though, were blocked or removed from the RMD, which effectively prevents them from accessing voice networks in the U.S. Some companies also received steep fines for blatant violations.

Keeping Your Calls Compliant

Enhanced enforcement benefits the public and legitimate businesses. However, there is a chance that your contact center or business could use a VPS that doesn’t meet regulatory expectations. When that happens, your numbers will suffer, and it becomes much harder to reach customers.

Basic steps to keeping your calls compliant include:

• Only working with trusted partners
• Auding your Rich Call Data (RCD)
• Maintaining the highest attestation rating for all of your outbound numbers
• Monitoring your numbers’ reputations diligently

Caller ID Reputation can help you with each of those areas. For example, Device Cloud captures screenshots from real smartphones on popular networks, so you can see exactly what appears on your customers’ caller ID screens. Our Attestation Tester helps ensure that all of your numbers maintain an A-Full Attestation rating. If you ever find incorrect information attached to your phone numbers, our specialists can remediate the problem quickly.

The Foreign Robocall Elimination Act could improve many aspects of telecommunications security. It could also create more challenges for your business. Get started with Caller ID Reputation today so you can stay ahead of upcoming changes.