Lankford Urges Biden Admin to Quickly Implement Border Patrol Overtime Pay Secured in the Annual Defense Law

OKLAHOMA CITY, OK – 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. 

Currently, Border Patrol Agents do not receive overtime pay commensurate with other federal law enforcement personnel. Lankford and Sinema expressed their concern over delays at the National Finance Center (NFC), housed within the Department of Agriculture, in implementing this key provision of the National Defense Authorizationlaw for Fiscal Year 2024, which was signed into law in December 2023.

“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. 

The Senators demanded answers and accountability from Secretary Vilsack, questioning what actions have been taken to implement overtime pay, what actions still need to be taken to do so swiftly, how to ensure deficiencies in systems and processes are not repeated, and when Border Patrol Agents can expect to see the new premium pay reflected in their paychecks. Lankford and Sinema requested a briefing on USDA’s efforts to implement this change no later than June 19, 2024.

Read the letter here or below. 

Dear Secretary Vilsack:

We are writing to express our concern with delays at the National Finance Center (NFC), housed within the Department of Agriculture, in implementing provisions of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2024 (FY 2024). Signed into law in December 2023, section 5201 of the FY 2024 NDAA addressed overtime pay disparities for experienced US Border Patrol (USBP) Agents. Unfortunately, this new premium pay has yet to reach these men and women trusted with securing our nation’s borders. 

Plagued by morale issues due to worsening personnel shortages and unsustainable migrant arrivals at the Southwest border, USBP has struggled with Agent hiring and retention for years. Despite this problem, Border Patrol Agents have not received overtime pay commensurate with other federal law enforcement personnel. Section 5201 rectifies this deficiency by providing Agents at the General Schedule (GS) 12 level with a premium pay of 50 percent of their hourly rate of basic pay when they work their Border Patrol Agent Pay Reform Act (BPAPRA) obligated overtime (hours 81-100 per pay period).

The NFC, responsible for the administration of pay to Customs and Border Protection personnel, still has not implemented this change—five months since section 5201 became law. With that, we request answers to the following questions no later than June 4, 2024: 

1) What actions have been taken, to date, to comply with the directives of section 5201 of the FY 2024 NDAA?

2) What actions still need to be taken to implement the new premium pay provisions included in section 5201 as quickly as possible?

3) What deficiencies in your systems and processes have created such a long implementation process?

4) By which date should we expect the Border Patrol Agents to see this new premium pay and backdated premium pay reflected in their paychecks?

Finally, we request that you provide a briefing to our offices no later than June 19, 2024, on your efforts to implement this change, and on changes necessary within the NFC to enhance compliance with federal 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. 

Thank you for your attention to this important matter. 

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