Senators James Lankford (R-OK) and Kyrsten Sinema (I-AZ), Ranking Member and Chair of the Border Management Subcommittee, urged US Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Tom Vilsack to swiftly implement the overtime pay for senior Border Patrol Agents the Senators secured in the annual bipartisan defense law.
“Our Border Patrol Agents, who have performed the thankless yet heroic job of managing the crisis at our border for years, deserve to be compensated for their sacrifices, and it is profoundly unacceptable to allow bureaucracy to stand in the way of our national security,” wrote the Senators.
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For years, Border Patrol Agents have faced a frustrating reality – their overtime compensation has lagged behind that of other federal law enforcement personnel.
This discrepancy has taken a toll on morale and hindered the agency’s ability to attract and retain top talent, at a time when the Southwest border has been grappling with an unprecedented surge in migrant arrivals.
Through their bipartisan collaboration, Lankford and Sinema successfully championed a provision in the FY 2024 NDAA that addressed the overtime pay disparities faced by experienced Border Patrol Agents. This landmark legislation, signed into law in December 2023, granted Agents at the General Schedule (GS) 12 level a premium pay of 50% of their hourly rate of basic pay for their Border Patrol Agent Pay Reform Act (BPAPRA) obligated overtime hours (hours 81-100 per pay period).
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In a strongly worded letter, the senators have demanded answers and accountability from Secretary Vilsack. They have posed a series of pointed questions, seeking to understand the specific actions taken to comply with the NDAA directives, the remaining steps needed to implement the new premium pay provisions, and the root causes of the prolonged implementation process.
Moreover, Lankford and Sinema have requested a briefing from the USDA on its efforts to enact this change, as well as the necessary reforms within the NFC to enhance compliance with federal law.
They have made it clear that any further delays in delivering this critical compensation to the Border Patrol Agents are “profoundly unacceptable” and jeopardize the nation’s security.
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