Congress approves the TRACED Act to fight robocalls

Today, Senate approved the TRACED Act, or Telephone Robocall Abuse Criminal Enforcement Act. The legislation could give the government new powers to prosecute robocallers, The Washington Post says. It would also require carriers that authenticate and block spam callers to share those services with customers for free.

President Trump is expected to sign the bill -- the first major anti-robocall legislation to pass in decades. Though, even after it's signed, it will take months to implement the changes.

Still, supporters say this is a big step towards reducing robocalls. Earlier this year the Federal Trade Commission said it was cracking down on spoof callers, but law enforcement officials have pushed for more tools to go after robocallers. According to the FCC, US consumers receive as many as 350,000 unwanted calls every three minutes, so any reduction would be welcome.