VA Police Recruitment and Retention Act

Summary#

This bill stops officials from lowering the grade or pay level of Veterans Affairs (VA) law enforcement jobs. It says the VA, the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), and any other department or agency cannot propose, start, or carry out a "position downgrade" for covered VA law enforcement positions. It also prohibits using Federal funds to do those actions. If a covered VA position was downgraded between October 1, 2025, and the date the bill becomes law, that downgrade would have no force and effect. Those positions must be returned to their prior status and employees in those jobs must receive any pay they otherwise would have received. The bill defines "covered VA position" as any VA position that carries out law enforcement functions, whether permanent, temporary, full-time, part-time, intermittent, or regardless of funding source. It defines "position downgrade" to include consistency reviews, incumbent-only reviews, or other classification actions under chapter 51 of title 5 or similar authority that may reduce a position's grade or pay.

What it means for you#

• If you hold a VA law enforcement position covered by the bill, your position cannot be downgraded under the actions the bill forbids.
• If your position was downgraded between October 1, 2025, and the bill's enactment date, you would be returned to the previous job status and receive any pay you would have gotten otherwise.
• The restriction applies to all covered VA law enforcement jobs, whether they are full-time, part-time, temporary, or funded from different sources.

Expenses#

No publicly available information on estimated costs or savings. The bill requires returning downgraded positions to prior status and paying employees any pay they otherwise would have received, and it bars use of Federal funds to propose or carry out downgrades.

Proponents' View#

No publicly available information.

Opponents' View#

No publicly available information.