The retail industry is ramping up its lobbying campaign in Washington in an effort to get the Combating Organized Retail Crime Act across the finish line before Congress runs out of time.
With the House already approving CORCA in May by a decisive 348-60 vote, attention has shifted to the Senate, where retailers and other industry groups are pushing lawmakers to include the legislation in the annual National Defense Authorization Act, or NDAA. The strategy could provide a faster path for legislation the retail industry has pursued for years.
The window for action is getting tight. Senators returning from recess this month are expected to have only three weeks in session before leaving Washington ahead of November’s midterm elections, increasing pressure on CORCA supporters to secure a deal.
And retailers aren’t lobbying alone.
The National Retail Federation and World Shipping Council are among the organizations arguing that organized retail theft has implications beyond individual stores, including economic and supply chain security. The Association of American Railroads and American Trucking Associations have also joined the effort as concerns about cargo theft increasingly overlap with the broader organized retail crime debate.
The Retail Industry Leaders Association is also taking the fight directly to lawmakers by encouraging individual companies to explain how organized retail crime affects their operations.
Evan Armstrong, RILA’s senior vice president of government affairs, says gaps in enforcement become particularly problematic when stolen merchandise crosses jurisdictions and proceeds ultimately move overseas. Local law enforcement agencies, he argues, aren’t equipped to pursue criminal enterprises operating on that scale.
But opponents are lobbying just as hard.
The ACLU, NAACP, Legal Defense Fund and other civil liberties organizations have urged Senate leaders to reject CORCA. Their concerns center on the legislation’s expansion of federal authority and its proposed Organized Retail Crime Coordination Center within the Department of Homeland Security. Critics argue that the bill’s definition of organized retail crime is too broad and could potentially bring lower-level or individual shoplifting cases into the federal system.
That opposition has created an unusual lobbying battle over legislation that otherwise enjoys substantial bipartisan and public support.
New polling commissioned by FTI Consulting found that three out of four Americans broadly support federal legislation aimed at combating organized retail crime. However, separate polling commissioned by the Vera Institute of Justice found that 82 percent oppose attaching CORCA to the NDAA and instead want senators to consider it in a separate vote.
That distinction could become increasingly important as the Senate’s legislative calendar shrinks.
For the retail industry, attaching CORCA to the defense bill could represent its best opportunity yet to establish a coordinated federal response to criminal networks that move stolen goods and proceeds across jurisdictions.
For opponents, that’s precisely why the legislation deserves its own debate.
After years of retailers pushing Washington for a stronger federal response to organized retail crime, the fight over CORCA may now come down to three weeks, two competing lobbying campaigns and one must-pass defense bill.
Sources & Further Reading
POLITICO Influence, Lobbying Fight Over Retail Crime Bill Heats Up (Sept. 1, 2026) • U.S. Congress, H.R. 2853: Combating Organized Retail Crime Act of 2025 • National Retail Federation • Retail Industry Leaders Association • American Civil Liberties Union • The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights