WASHINGTON, D.C. – Changes are coming to federal sentencing guidelines unless Congress votes against them.
The bipartisan United States Sentencing Commission met on April 11, 2025, and voted unanimously to publish amendments to federal sentencing guidelines for the amendment cycle, which ends on May 1, 2025. The amendment of the guidelines will apply to a range of procedures related to issues including supervised release, drug trafficking, and firearms offenses.
“The policies issued today are bipartisan, common-sense ideas that will protect public safety, reduce recidivism, and facilitate rehabilitation,” said Judge Carlton W. Reeves, Chair of the Commission.
The amendments will improve federal sentencing by:
- Encouraging courts to take an individualized approach to the imposition and management of supervised release.
- Addressing the harms of “fake pills” containing fentanyl while ensuring sentences better reflect a defendant’s function in drug trafficking.
- Providing appropriate penalties for firearms offenses that involve machine gun conversion devices.
- Simplify the “three-step” approach courts currently use when applying the guidelines.
- Promoting consistent guideline application by resolving certain circuit conflicts.
The amendments will be delivered to Congress by May 1, 2025, and will go into effect on November 1, 2025, if Congress does not take action to disapprove them. The video archive of the meeting can be viewed on the U.S. Sentencing Commission website.
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