Congress Extends Secret Service Overtime Authority
With a presidential election, 2024 sets up to be a busy year for members of the U.S. Secret Service, who are charged with not only protecting President Biden and Vice President Harris and their families, but also the premier presidential candidates.
In addition to this responsibility, the Secret Service will lead efforts related to various National Security Special Events, like the Super Bowl this weekend, nominating conventions in the summer and the presidential debates in the fall.
To ensure the Secret Service has the personnel to meet that need, and those personnel are compensated appropriately, Congress has now waived pay caps that would prevent Secret Service agents from earning their full overtime.
The House passed the Overtime Pay for Protective Services Act, just weeks before it was set to lapse.
The bill extends overtime authority retroactively from Dec. 31, 2023, through 2028, for protective services. The Senate previously passed the legislation in December. President Biden signed the bill on Tuesday.
The legislation builds on legislation from 2016, which provided overtime pay protection, after many agents worked long hours during the campaign, and some were shorted as much as $30,000 to $40,000 in overtime pay.
This legislation also sets the Secret Service up for 2028, when it is likely that both parties will have new nominees that require protection in addition to the sitting president, as opposed to this election where the sitting president is expected to be the democratic nominee and the most likely republican nominee is a former president, who is already entitled to protection. If President Biden is reelected, he would be ineligible for reelection in 2028. If former-President Trump is elected, he would be ineligible for reelection in 2028.
Presidential detail assignments often require the most experienced Secret Service personnel. Therefore, the Secret Service must focus on staffing up now and retaining qualified personnel to meet this future need.
FY 2024 Costs
In its fiscal year (FY) 2024 budget request, the U.S. Secret Service estimated that costs for overtime in FY 2024 will be nearly $32 million, as well as an additional $5.6 million to secure National Special Security Events.
The Secret Service, like all other agencies and offices, is waiting for Congress to pass the FY 2024 appropriations bills and has been working under a series of continuing resolutions at FY 2023 funding levels.
Pay Caps in Focus
The overtime extension comes as law enforcement groups and some members of Congress advocate for fairer compensation across the board for federal law enforcement officers.
“The Secret Service undeniably needs this pay cap waiver to meet their mission needs. And while this law is a significant step toward ensuring U.S. Secret Service agents are appropriately compensated for their work, it is not the end of the road. The Secret Service is not the only federal law enforcement entity in need of pay improvements. Across federal law enforcement, agencies are struggling to recruit, retain, and adequately compensate their agents and officers due to pay caps that unfairly deprive law enforcement of their due,” Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association (FLEOA) President Mat Silverman said in a statement.
Rep. Bill Pascrell (D-NJ) has introduced legislation called the Law Enforcement Officer (LEO) Fair Retirement Act (H.R. 1323) to address this issue. The legislation would allow the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) to count LEO overtime hours toward retirement benefits.
Currently, pay caps prevent law enforcement from being fully compensated for their overtime work.
In addition, Rep. Pascrell is one of the cosponsors of the bipartisan Law Enforcement Officers' Equity Act.
The legislation would ensure that federal law enforcement officers who currently are not classified as such, like those at the U.S. Postal Service, Department of Defense, FBI, U.S. Mint, and other agencies, would be classified as law enforcement officers going forward.
The reclassification would allow such officers to receive retirement benefits and eligibility alongside their peers at other agencies.
“As state and local law enforcement organizations improve their pay packages, the federal government is losing qualified applicants and personnel at a faster rate than ever before. FLEOA will not stop working until all federal law enforcement agencies have the authority to properly compensate their workforce–whether that be through improvements to base pay, overtime pay cap waivers, or improved retirement benefits. That also includes ensuring all agents and officers who perform law enforcement functions are treated as ‘law enforcement’ and eligible for law enforcement compensation,” FLEOA President Silverman concluded.