Bipartisan lawmakers are seeking to secure a 35% federal pay raise for correctional officers at the Bureau of Prisons, in an effort to address longstanding staffing shortages across the agency.

The Federal Correctional Officer Paycheck Protection Act, which both House and Senate lawmakers introduced this week, would implement a 35% increase to the base pay rates for BOP correctional officers in the 0007 job series, as well as certain correctional officers on various other government pay scales.

“Persistent and often dangerous staffing shortages at federal prisons nationwide cause safety concerns for BOP personnel and incarcerated individuals alike,” Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), one of the bill’s original cosponsors, said in a statement. “Our bill will help to ensure that staff within our federal prisons are paid adequately for the critical work they do across this country.”

A bipartisan companion bill in the House comes from Reps. Rob Bresnahan (R-Pa.) and Dan Goldman (D-N.Y.), who said that pay rates for correctional officers fall short of other similar federal law enforcement personnel. In turn, that leads to low staffing levels, coupled with excessive use of overtime to try to compensate for the vacancies.

“This strains workforce morale, disrupts inmate programming and creates unsafe conditions inside Bureau of Prisons facilities,” Bresnahan said in a statement.

The new bill comes shortly after BOP correctional officers received a 3.8% federal pay raise, as part of President Donald Trump’s orders for a larger 2026 pay increase for certain law enforcement personnel.

The American Federation of Government Employees said it “appreciates” the 3.8% raise for law enforcement, including BOP correctional officers. But AFGE added that for the BOP, “the one-time pay bump simply isn’t enough to make up for decades of pay disparity.”

Brandy Moore White, national president of the AFGE Council of Prison Locals, expressed support for the new legislation.

“This reform is critical. It will align BOP compensation with federal law enforcement standards, stem the loss of experienced officers and attract qualified applicants in an increasingly competitive hiring market,” Moore White said in a statement. “Most importantly, it will help restore safe staffing levels across federal institutions, reduce violence, protect staff and ensure mission readiness.”

The introduction of the bill also comes shortly after BOP Director William K. Marshall III announced upcoming retention-based pay incentives for certain correctional officers and other BOP positions seeing consistent staffing shortages. The new pay incentives, which are expected to take effect in February, will give some agency employees a temporary pay boost between 5% and 25%, depending on their job position and geographic location.

For years, BOP has attempted to stave off poor recruitment and retention levels by using pay-based recruitment and retention incentives as a way to try to keep federal correctional officers in their jobs. But because the pay incentives are a temporary fix, many have advocated for a larger and permanent federal pay raise for the BOP workforce.

A Justice Department Office of Inspector General report from February 2024 said the BOP workforce uses excessive overtime hours and staff “augmentation” to try to compensate for persistent understaffing. But the OIG wrote that those factors “overburdened existing staff and potentially contributed to staff fatigue, sleep deprivation, decreased vigilance and inattentiveness to duty.”

Recent federal workforce data also shows that BOP correctional officers’ attrition levels over the last year have resulted in 1,700 officers leaving their jobs, including more than 1,100 correctional officers who have either quit or retired since January 2025. Over the same time period, the agency had about 1,200 new officers join the ranks, resulting in a net loss of nearly 500 correctional officers over the last year.

Under the new legislation, the 35% pay increase would initially last for five years. Within the last six months of that timeframe, the bill would require the Justice Department OIG to assess the progress BOP has made toward improving recruitment and retention levels, as well as reducing overtime hours and staff augmentation. If that OIG assessment shows BOP has made progress as a result of the federal pay raise, the 35% salary boost would remain in place.

The post Bipartisan lawmakers propose 35% federal pay raise for Bureau of Prisons officers first appeared on Federal News Network.

The specifics of a larger federal pay raise for law enforcement officers are coming into view, following President Donald Trump’s directive to offer a 3.8% salary increase for certain positions.

In a memo Wednesday, the Office of Personnel Management established new “special salary rates” for federal law enforcement personnel, as a way to implement the bigger raise for 2026.

“These new special rates support ongoing agency hiring efforts for mission-critical law enforcement positions essential to implementing the administration’s priorities to secure the border, enforce federal laws, and protect public safety,” OPM wrote. “Without these special rates, agencies may face challenges in recruiting and retaining the personnel needed to carry out these missions effectively.”

The pay increase for law enforcement is nearly quadruple the 1% federal pay raise that most civilian employees on the General Schedule will receive, but in line with a 3.8% raise for military members. Trump signed an executive order finalizing the 2026 federal pay raise on Dec. 18.

The pay increase will take effect Jan. 11, coinciding with the first day of the General Schedule’s first full pay period of 2026.

OPM’s new memo comes after Trump directed OPM Director Scott Kupor to “assess whether to provide” up to a 3.8% raise for “certain federal civilian law enforcement personnel.”

After consulting with various agencies, OPM determined that the following law enforcement personnel will receive a 3.8% federal pay raise for 2026:

• Customs and Border Protection law enforcement officers, including Border Patrol agents, officers, criminal investigators, and Air and Marine interdiction agents
• ICE personnel, including special agents, detention and deportation officers, and technical enforcement officers
• Secret Service personnel, including security specialists, officers, investigators and technicians
• Federal Protective Service criminal investigators and officers
• Federal Bureau of Prisons correctional officers
• FBI special agents
• Drug Enforcement Administration special agents
• U.S. Marshals Service officers and special agents
• Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives special agents
• National Park Service park police officers
• Interior Department law enforcement officers
• Forest Service law enforcement officers and criminal investigators
• Agriculture Department law enforcement officers in the Office of Safety, Security and Protection
• State Department criminal investigators in the Diplomatic Security Service
• National Nuclear Security Administration couriers

The memo provides more specifics on the eligibility of certain law enforcement personnel for the 2026 raise. The pay tables for law enforcement are also now available on OPM’s website.

Like the rest of the General Schedule, law enforcement pay rates are still capped at the pay rate for level IV of the Executive Schedule, which for 2026 is $197,200.

“This statutory pay cap will prevent some covered law enforcement personnel from receiving the full 3.8% increase, but most employees should receive at least a 1% adjustment,” OPM wrote.

OPM also told agencies to request additional special salary rates for other law enforcement positions, as needed. Generally, special salary rates are reserved for federal positions deemed particularly difficult to recruit and retain.

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