On September 28, 2026, the U.S. Senate passed, by unanimous consent, the Terrorism Risk Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2026 (S. 4395), which would extend the federal terrorism insurance backstop past its original expiration date of December 31, 2027, through 2034. The U.S. House of Representatives passed its own reauthorization measure, H.R. 7128, by a vote of 373-15 in June. Because the two bills are not identical, Congress must reconcile the differences before a final bill can be sent to the president.

Background

Congress enacted the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act (TRIA) in 2002 following the attacks on September 11, 2001, when terrorism coverage largely disappeared from the commercial insurance market. TRIA established a public-private framework under which commercial property and casualty insurers are required to offer terrorism coverage, and the federal government provides partial reimbursement of insured losses from certified terrorist attacks once statutory thresholds and insurer deductibles have been met. Depending on the amount of federal assistance paid, the Treasury may recover some or all of those expenditures through surcharges imposed on commercial policyholders and collected by insurers. The secretary of the Treasury administers the program, with assistance from the Federal Insurance Office.

TRIA has never been triggered by a certified terrorism event. It has been reauthorized four times: in 2005, 2007, 2015, and 2019, with the most recent extension setting the current expiration date at December 31, 2027.

Generally, under TRIA, an insurer must “make available, in all of its property and casualty insurance policies, coverage for insured losses . . . that do not differ materially from the terms, amounts, and other coverage limitations applicable to losses arising from events other than acts of terrorism.” The term “property and casualty insurance” has been amended over the years, and now includes any commercial lines of property and casualty insurance, including excess insurance, workers’ compensation insurance, and directors and officers liability insurance, but does not include federal crop insurance, private mortgage insurance, financial guaranty insurance issued by a monoline insurer, commercial automobile insurance, burglary and theft insurance, surety insurance, professional liability insurance, farm owners multiple peril insurance, medical malpractice insurance, health or life insurance, flood insurance, and reinsurance.

It should also be noted that “property and casualty insurance” is not specifically defined to include only U.S. insureds, but rather any commercial lines of property and casualty insurance generally; whether TRIA coverage must be made available depends on whether there is an “insured loss,” which is defined narrowly under TRIA focusing primarily on the situs of the loss rather than the location of the insured. Further, TRIA applies to both licensed (admitted) insurance companies as well as unauthorized excess and surplus lines insurers.

Senate Bill: S. 4395

S. 4395 was introduced on April 27 by Senators David McCormick (R-Pa.), Tina Smith (D-Minn.), Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), and Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.). The Senate bill is solely a seven-year extension of the existing program through 2034 and does not make any substantive changes to the program. The Senate Banking Committee approved the bill unanimously on September 17, then sent it to the full Senate floor, where it passed by unanimous consent on September 28.

House Bill: H.R. 7128

H.R. 7128 was introduced on January 16, 2026, by Rep. Mike Flood (R-Neb.) and Rep. Andrew Garbarino (R-N.Y.). While both chambers have approved a seven-year extension through 2034, the House bill contains two provisions that are not included in the Senate version:

1. Certification threshold increase. The House bill would raise the minimum insured-loss threshold required to certify an event as an act of terrorism from $5 million to $10 million, effective in 2029. Because certification by the Treasury is the trigger for federal backstop payments to insurers, a higher threshold would mean that smaller-scale attacks falling below the new bar would be handled entirely by private markets.
2. Certification deadlines and public notice. The House bill would require the Treasury to publish a notice in the Federal Register within 30 days after beginning to determine whether an event should be certified. If the Treasury did not certify the event within 90 days after publishing that notice, the event could no longer be certified under TRIA. The bill would therefore give insurers and policyholders a defined endpoint to a certification process that can otherwise create uncertainty after an attack.

These differences will need to be resolved, either through a conference process, one chamber adopting the other’s version, or some other reconciliation, before a unified bill can reach the president’s desk.

Importance of Early Reauthorization

The insurance industry has urged Congress to complete the reauthorization process well ahead of the December 2027 expiration. Insurers and policyholders are already negotiating contracts that extend beyond 2027, and thus the status of the federal backstop is already becoming relevant to the pricing, capacity, and availability of terrorism coverage in the commercial market.

Past reauthorization delays have had real market consequences. For instance, when Congress did not complete reauthorization before expiration on December 31, 2014, the market was left without a federal backstop until legislation was enacted on January 12, 2015. Industry groups have cited this 2014 experience in appealing to lawmakers to avoid a similar disruption, noting that uncertainty around the program’s status can lead insurers to add conditional exclusions to policies, potentially leaving commercial property owners and borrowers exposed.

What Comes Next?

The remaining question is not whether either chamber supports a seven-year extension — both do. What remains to be determined is whether one chamber will adopt the other’s version or the two will negotiate a compromise on the House’s proposed certification changes. Until identical legislation passes both chambers and receives the president’s signature, TRIA remains scheduled to expire on December 31, 2027. Industry groups are pressing Congress to finish the process by the end of 2026, before uncertainty about the program begins to affect policies and transactions extending into 2028.