(Washington, D.C.) President Donald J. Trump signed H.R. 3731 - the Secret Service Recruitment and Retention Act of 2018 - on Tuesday, April 3, 2018. U.S. Secret Service Director Randolph D. "Tex" Alles joined President Trump in the White House Oval Office to witness the signing of H.R. 3731.
H.R. 3731 raises the statutory pay cap for protective services to Level II of the Executive Schedule for CYs 2017 and 2018 for "any officer, employee, or agent employed by the United States Secret Service." The passage of this bill fully compensates the more than 1,000 Secret Service employees who worked overtime hours well beyond the previously legislated pay cap in 2017 and provides the same authorization to pay employees who exceed the pay cap in 2018. This means that the men and women of the Secret Service will be compensated for all of the hours they worked and will be required to work in both 2017 and 2018 to ensure our critical mission gets done right.
While the Secret Service workforce consistently rises to the occasion to accomplish its protective mission regardless of the hours worked and days away from home, this bill goes a long way to recognize and compensate them for their sacrifice. Secret Service Director Alles noted that "after months of work and negotiations on this legislative initiative, it was gratifying to see the authority and funding come together in the same week," as the funding for H.R. 3731 was included in the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2018 (Omnibus).
The Omnibus provides additional funding for the Secret Service in FY 2018 to account for the Secret Service Recruitment and Retention Act (H.R. 3731) and other critical initiatives including funding to begin the new White House perimeter fence replacement; the procurement of additional Fully Armored Vehicles; and valuable training courses for 1,500 state and local partners at the National Computer Forensics Institute. The Omnibus also provides for additional funding in support of the Secret Service human capital hiring plan and retention programs like the senior Special Agent/Resident Agent program; student loan repayment and tuition assistance programs; childcare subsidies; and the Uniformed Division Group Retention Initiative.
The Secret Service is fully committed to ensuring future staffing levels, resources, and funding meet mission requirements. The bipartisan Congressional support for H.R. 3731 and the Omnibus clearly show the Congress and the President recognize the same. The men and women of the Secret Service are grateful for the widespread Congressional support of this bill.
The Secret Service stands ready every day to execute on their integrated mission of protection and investigations. The enactment of H.R. 3731, accompanied by funding through the Omnibus, provides the Secret Service with the needed authority and funding to compensate its workforce, support cyber training for law enforcement partners, and follow through on protective mission based security enhancements and acquisitions all in support of a successful and secure future.
Source: U.S. Secret Service