Right to Repair and Your Windshield: What H.R. 7389 and the “Freedom to Fix” Order Actually Do
Quick answer: Two very different things are getting lumped together as "right to repair" right now. In June, President Trump signed a "Freedom to Fix" memorandum, and it deals with emissions parts and EPA enforcement. It doesn't touch windshields, cameras, or repair data. Separately, Congress is working on H.R. 7389, the Motor Vehicle Modernization Act of 2026. That bill would turn the auto industry's voluntary 2014 repair agreement into enforceable federal law, and it writes calibration into the federal definition of a vehicle repair for the first time. The second one is the one that matters if your car has a camera behind the rearview mirror. It cleared committee 48–1 in May and, as of the end of September, is still waiting on a vote of the full House.
Why this is suddenly everywhere
Right to repair has been in the news all summer, and most of the coverage blurs together three separate events: a House committee vote in May, a White House signing at the end of June, and a wave of statements from glass, collision, dealer and parts trade groups reacting to both.
If you replace windshields for a living, or you just had one replaced and got a separate line on the invoice for "calibration," it's worth untangling them. They do very different things, and only one of them has anything to say about the glass in front of you.
Did Trump sign a right to repair executive order?
Not exactly. On June 29, 2026, the President signed a presidential memorandum, not an executive order, titled "Lowering the Cost of Living by Promoting the Freedom to Fix." A memorandum directs an agency to act. It doesn't carry an executive order number, and it doesn't create new legal rights on its own.
This one is aimed almost entirely at the EPA. It directs the agency to:
Issue guidance within 30 days on what emission repairs people can legally do on their own vehicles
Speed up its review of certification requests for aftermarket emissions parts, largely as an alternative to California's certification process, which the memo describes as taking well over a year
Consider deprioritizing civil tampering enforcement against people making good-faith repairs that return a vehicle to its original configuration
The EPA followed up on July 1 with guidance restating that manufacturers have to give owners and independent shops access to the same emissions-related service and repair information they give their branded service centers, and that they can't require their own branded parts. A July analysis from the law firm Arnold & Porter concluded the memo and guidance "add little" to existing federal policy. The "reasonable basis" standard for emissions repairs dates back to 1974.
What the memo does not do: say anything about ADAS, windshield cameras, calibration, telematics, or manufacturer-controlled diagnostics outside emissions systems. The Automotive Recyclers Association made the same point in its own breakdown. So if you saw a post saying Trump settled right to repair for your car's driver-assistance systems, that isn't what happened. That fight is in Congress.
What H.R. 7389 actually is
H.R. 7389 was introduced on February 5, 2026, by Rep. Brett Guthrie (R-Ky.), who chairs the House Energy and Commerce Committee. It's a big bill with an official purpose of modernizing NHTSA's motor vehicle safety programs. Right to repair is one part of it. The rest covers tire rules, AM radio in new vehicles, lithium-ion battery standards, supply chain security, consumer information on partially automated driving systems, and a separate section on ADAS that we'll get to below.
The timeline so far:
February 5, 2026: Introduced and referred to Energy and Commerce
February 10, 2026: Forwarded by the Commerce, Manufacturing, and Trade Subcommittee by voice vote
May 21, 2026: Reported out of the full committee, amended, 48–1. Rep. Jake Auchincloss (D-Mass.) cast the lone no vote.
Since then it has been waiting for floor time. It's expected to move alongside the House's surface transportation reauthorization, and Congress already pushed that deadline from September 30 into December with a short-term extension. Nothing in H.R. 7389 is law yet.
What the right to repair section actually says
The repair language sits in a part of the bill titled the REPAIR Act, Sections 201 through 205. The name is borrowed from a stronger standalone bill (more on that in a minute). The committee version does four things.
1. It makes the 2014 repair agreement enforceable
Some background. After Massachusetts voters passed a right to repair law in 2012, automaker trade groups and aftermarket groups signed a national memorandum of understanding in January 2014 so the rest of the country wouldn't end up with fifty different state laws. Under it, automakers agreed to make the same diagnostic tools, service information, and software available to independent shops that they provide to their dealers. That access isn't free; shops pay for it. The agreement also committed automakers to a standardized, non-proprietary diagnostic interface by the 2018 model year. Disputes went to an industry panel.
The weak spot was always that it was voluntary. Section 202 of H.R. 7389 changes that. Automakers would be required by law to comply with Sections 1 through 5 of the 2014 agreement for vehicles 14,000 pounds and under, and Sections 2 through 8 of the 2015 commercial vehicle agreement for heavier trucks. Section 203 makes a violation an unfair or deceptive practice under the Federal Trade Commission Act, which puts the FTC in charge of enforcement.
2. It puts calibration into the legal definition of a repair
This is the line the glass industry has been quoting all summer. Section 201 defines a "covered activity" as:
"any diagnosis, maintenance, or repair of a motor vehicle (including any calibration or recalibration required as part of any such diagnosis, maintenance, or repair) necessary to return the motor vehicle to operational specifications."
That parenthetical is new. For a windshield shop it means recalibrating the forward camera after a replacement is, in federal law, part of the repair, not an optional add-on and not something that belongs only to the dealer.
3. It orders a study of everything else
Section 204 directs the FTC to study the harder questions: whether automakers restrict access to vehicle data transmitted wirelessly (telematics), whether they limit how aftermarket parts work with the vehicle, how well shops can actually get repair information and tools, and how the growth of software and electronics is changing repair. The FTC has to consult DOT, repair shops, parts and tool makers, manufacturers, dealers and consumer groups. The report is due four years after the bill becomes law.
4. It says the data doesn't belong to anyone but you
Section 205 states that nothing in the law gives anyone other than the vehicle owner ownership rights to vehicle-generated data. It also says the bill doesn't preempt state franchise, warranty, privacy or fraud laws. That last part got attention at the markup: Rep. Lori Trahan (D-Mass.) raised concerns about the effect on Massachusetts' 2020 data access law, and Chairman Guthrie responded that "the bill contains no such override."
What got cut, and why people are arguing about it
The original REPAIR Act, H.R. 1566, sponsored by Rep. Neal Dunn (R-Fla.), went further. It would have required automakers to give owners and their chosen shops access to vehicle-generated data and to repair and calibration information through a standardized platform, and it would have barred manufacturers from blocking aftermarket parts. In committee, those mandates were replaced with the MOU codification and the FTC study.
Reactions split along predictable lines:
Rep. Dunn said the day after the vote that "Congress must pass the REPAIR provisions on the House floor to protect consumer choice," and is pushing to restore the original language.
SEMA, the specialty parts trade group, went neutral, citing the narrowed scope on telematics and direct wireless data access.
NADA, representing new-car dealers, opposed the original bill but backs the committee version, arguing that 75% of post-warranty repairs already happen outside the dealer network.
The Society of Collision Repair Specialists argued that data access isn't the real bottleneck. Executive Director Aaron Schulenburg said the primary obstacles to proper repairs are "not access-related, but rather economic and systemic pressures."
The core of the disagreement is simple. The 2014 agreement was written for a world where a technician plugged a scan tool into the port under the dash. More and more vehicle data now moves wirelessly, and more repair steps now require the manufacturer's software and an authenticated login. The committee bill makes the old promise enforceable and asks the FTC to study the new problem. It doesn't require a fix for it.
Why a windshield is now a right to repair issue
Ten years ago a windshield was a piece of glass and a bead of urethane. Today, on most newer vehicles, it's also the mounting surface for the camera that runs lane keeping, automatic emergency braking, traffic sign recognition and, on many models, adaptive cruise. That camera looks through a specific zone of the glass at a specific angle. Replace the glass and the camera's view of the road changes, even if only by a fraction of a degree.
Automakers are explicit about this. GM's March 2026 windshield position statement says a calibration procedure is performed whenever a front camera is removed, reinstalled or replaced, "or when the windshield itself is removed and replaced." GM also calls for GM glass only, which is its own debate. We walked through when calibration is actually required, and when it isn't, in Do I Need ADAS Calibration After Windshield Replacement?
So a windshield job now has two halves. Setting the glass is the half everyone sees. The other half runs through the manufacturer's procedure, targets and alignment equipment, and sometimes a scan tool session that has to be authenticated with the automaker. If an independent shop can buy the glass but can't complete that second half, the customer ends up at the dealer anyway, or drives away with a camera that was never recalibrated. That's the gap the glass industry is focused on.
Where the auto glass industry stands
The Independent Glass Association has been the loudest glass voice on H.R. 7389. It supports "meaningful, enforceable federal right-to-repair protections" and welcomes the calibration language, but argues the bill stops short. Its position boils down to one line: "A right to repair must include the right to safely complete the repair." The group is asking for access to OEM repair procedures and specifications, security and authentication rules that don't shut out legitimate shops, reasonable access to vehicle data when a repair requires it, protections against systems that steer repairs back to OEM channels, and a seat for independent glass businesses when NHTSA and the FTC write the rules.
There's a second piece of H.R. 7389 the glass trade is watching. Part II of the same subtitle is the ADAS Functionality and Integrity Act (Section 221). It directs NHTSA to study how common modifications, such as suspension changes, wheel and tire changes, and sensor work, affect ADAS performance and calibration within 18 months, and it allows the agency to develop industry guidelines within two years if it finds that feasible, with updates every five years. When a standalone version moved earlier this year, the IGA opposed it. Its worry was that new calibration procedures would arrive without any guarantee that insurers or third-party administrators would pay for them, leaving small shops to absorb the cost.
Our take from the shop floor
Both sides of this argument have a point, and we see both in our bay.
The IGA is right that a legal right to choose your shop doesn't mean much if that shop can't finish the job. Calibration isn't a courtesy step. It's part of returning the car to how it left the factory, and H.R. 7389 would put that in writing.
SCRS is also right that, day to day, the fights are often about money rather than access: whether a claim will pay for calibration at all, whether it pays for the right glass, and how much time a proper procedure is allowed to take. A bill that guarantees access to information but says nothing about who pays for the work only solves part of the problem.
What this means for you right now
Nothing changes today. H.R. 7389 hasn't passed the House, let alone the Senate, and even if it becomes law, the FTC study wouldn't be due for four years after that. The 2014 agreement is still voluntary.
You already get to pick your shop. In Texas, Insurance Code § 1952.301 says your insurer can't limit you to a particular repair shop, and § 1952.302 bars adjusters from steering you to one. We covered the rest of your rights on a glass claim in Does Texas Insurance Cover Windshield Replacement?
Ask the calibration questions up front. Whoever replaces your windshield, before you book:
Does the quote include calibration, or is that a separate line or a separate trip?
Does my vehicle need static calibration, dynamic, or both, according to the manufacturer's procedure?
Is the calibration done in-house, or sent out to a dealer or a mobile calibration company?
Will I get documentation showing the calibration was completed?
Keep the paperwork. If a driver-assistance warning shows up after a glass job, the calibration record is the first thing anyone will ask for.
What happens next
The next step is a House floor vote, most likely as part of a larger transportation package. That's where Rep. Dunn and the independent repair side will try to restore the data access and parts language, and where dealer and automaker groups will argue for keeping the committee version. If it passes the House, the Senate still has to act.
Whatever happens, the calibration definition is the piece most likely to survive, because almost nobody is fighting it. Once "calibration or recalibration" is written into federal law as part of a repair, it gets much harder for anyone, whether manufacturer, insurer or administrator, to treat it as optional.
Bottom line
The "Freedom to Fix" memorandum is about emissions parts and EPA enforcement, not your windshield. H.R. 7389 is the bill that matters for auto glass: it would make the 2014 repair agreement enforceable by the FTC and recognize calibration as part of a repair, but in its current form it studies wireless data access and parts compatibility instead of requiring them. It's still waiting on a House vote. In the meantime, the right to repair that matters most on a glass job is the one you can use today: choosing a shop that can replace the glass and complete the calibration, and asking for proof that both got done.
Windshield Replacement and ADAS Calibration in Fort Worth
Compass Auto Glass is an independent, locally owned glass shop. We replace the windshield and recalibrate the camera behind it in-house, following the manufacturer's procedure for your vehicle, so the job isn't split between two shops and two appointments. We quote by VIN, so you know exactly what glass is going in before we order it.
Same-day mobile service across DFW where the vehicle allows it, direct insurance billing, ADAS recalibration in-house, and a lifetime workmanship warranty.
817-229-1063
Serving Fort Worth, Arlington, Keller, Haltom City, North Richland Hills, and the DFW metroplex.
Sources: H.R. 7389, Motor Vehicle Modernization Act of 2026, 119th Congress, bill status and actions (Congress.gov / GovInfo); Amendment in the Nature of a Substitute to H.R. 7389, Title I, Subtitle B, Part I (REPAIR Act, Secs. 201–205) and Part II (ADAS Functionality and Integrity Act, Sec. 221); House Energy and Commerce Committee, "E&C Advances 16 Bills to Full House," May 21, 2026; H.R. 1566, REPAIR Act, 119th Congress; Rep. Neal Dunn press release, May 22, 2026; The White House, Presidential Memorandum, "Lowering the Cost of Living by Promoting the Freedom to Fix," June 29, 2026; U.S. EPA, "EPA Delivers on President's 'Freedom to Fix' Memorandum for Vehicles and Equipment," July 1, 2026; Arnold & Porter, "'Freedom to Fix': New Presidential Memorandum and EPA Guidance on Vehicle Tampering Add Little to Existing Framework," July 2026; Automotive Recyclers Association, "Freedom to Fix: What the White House's New Memorandum Means for Automotive Recyclers"; 2014 National Automotive Service Information Memorandum of Understanding, as reported by Ratchet+Wrench, May 2014; Autobody News, "House Committee Advances Motor Vehicle Modernization Act, Excluding Full REPAIR Act Provisions," May 28, 2026, and "Motor Vehicle Modernization Act Awaits House Floor Vote as SCRS Says Shops Already Have Data Access They Need," July 7, 2026; SEMA, "U.S. House Committee Advances Legislation to Enact Right-to-Repair Provisions"; NADA, "Congress Should Retain House Committee-Passed 'REPAIR Act' Language (H.R. 7389)," June 2026; Independent Glass Association, H.R. 7389 position statement; Repairer Driven News, "Industry responds to federal bill requiring NHTSA guidelines for ADAS calibrations," March 4, 2026, and "GM releases windshield position statement," March 20, 2026; Union of Concerned Scientists, surface transportation extension analysis, September 2026; Texas Insurance Code §§ 1952.301–1952.302.