Amid the White House’s push to ramp up hiring at U.S. Border Patrol as part of its expansive immigration policy, new legislation on Capitol Hill seeks to retain current supervisors with new overtime authorities.
Rep. Tony Gonzales’, R-Texas, Border Patrol Supervisors Retention Act (H.R. 6439) would apply overtime authorities currently afforded to agents at a GS-12 level and expand eligibility up to managers and senior agents at a GS-15 level.
Gonzales’ bill, introduced on Dec. 4, builds on legislation the congressman previously folded into the fiscal 2024 National Defense Authorization Act that provided time-and-a-half payment eligibility for GS-12s. Prior to the fiscal 2024 NDAA, Border Patrol agents could earn pay for scheduled overtime, but were given time off for unscheduled overtime.
“Border Patrol supervisors are among the hardest-working federal employees in the service, yet they aren’t afforded the same enhanced overtime pay that has been authorized for other agents,” Gonzales said in a statement Tuesday. “At a time when we need to retain as much talent as we can, my bill makes it possible for Border Patrol supervisors at the GS-13 level and above to have more pay equity with their peers.”
The legislation comes as the Trump administration is trying to leverage funding from the One Big Beautiful Act to dramatically increase recruitment at Border Patrol, Customs and Border Protection, Immigration and Customs Enforcement and other agencies as part of its widespread immigration deportation efforts.
The One Big Beautiful Act earmarked funding for 3,000 new Border Patrol agents, but recruitment has traditionally been challenging for the agency, due to obstacles like background checks, training capacity, incentivizing work in remote locations and others.
The bill, which has support from the Border Patrol Supervisors Association, has been referred to the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.
Reconciled NDAA includes pay raise, increased family separation allowance
A reconciled version of the fiscal 2026 National Defense Authorization Act should heading for a vote this week with several pay & benefits measures attached.
The authorization bill includes a 3.8% pay raise for servicemembers first proposed by the White House, as well as a 60% increase to the family separation allowance, for those separated from their families for more than a month, to $300-a-month minimum. The legislation also extends bonus and special pay authorities for a year, alongside extending voluntary separation pay and benefits and allows servicemembers to use parental leave within a two-year period.
The most recent version legislation reconciles both the House and Senate versions and should head to a floor vote this week.
