Personnel Oversight and Shift Tracking Act of 2025
Floor Speech
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Mr. BARRETT. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 3425) to direct the Director of the Federal Protective Service to establish processes to strengthen oversight, performance, and accountability of contract security personnel engaged in the protection of certain buildings and grounds, and for other purposes, as amended.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The text of the bill is as follows: H.R. 3425
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Personnel Oversight and Shift Tracking Act of 2025'' or the ``POST Act of 2025''. SEC. 2. IMPROVED DATA COLLECTION AND PERFORMANCE ACCOUNTABILITY.
(a) In General.--Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, the Director of the Federal Protective Service shall establish processes to strengthen oversight, performance, and accountability of contract security personnel engaged in the protection of buildings and grounds that are owned, occupied, or secured by the General Services Administration Public Buildings Service.
(b) Oversight of Contract Security Personnel.--In carrying out the activities described in subsection (a), the Director shall--
(1) establish standards for the collection, maintenance, and analysis of covert testing data, including the creation of a comprehensive and uniform method for documenting test outcomes, identifying root causes of failures, and categorizing types of vulnerabilities detected;
(2) begin conducting quarterly analytical reviews of covert testing data to identify trends, recurring deficiencies, and opportunities for operational improvement across all covered facilities;
(3) direct the security contractor who is providing security services to the Federal Protective Service to establish a mandatory, cause-specific corrective training and performance improvement plan for any contract security personnel who fail a covert test and review the security contractor's performance improvement plan to ensure that the security contractor has and will provide appropriate training and procedures to avoid any future covert testing failures; and
(4) develop updated security training guidance for contract security personnel to reflect findings from covert testing data, emerging threats, and best practices.
(c) Report to Congress.--Upon completion of the activities described in subsection (b), and annually thereafter, the Director shall submit to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate an report on the implementation of the requirements of this section, including any identified challenges and recommendations for additional legislative action. SEC. 3. PERSONNEL SHIFT MANAGEMENT AND SYSTEM MODERNIZATION.
(a) Evaluation of the Personnel Tracking System.--Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Director of the Federal Protective Service shall--
(1) conduct a comprehensive evaluation of the personnel tracking system used to manage and monitor the deployment availability of contract security personnel;
(2) determine whether to replace the system described in paragraph (1) with a more reliable personnel tracking platform, including private sector solutions, or whether to implement corrective actions to improve the system described in paragraph (1), including technical, operational, or administrative fixes; and
(3) develop and publish an implementation plan that includes--
(A) a timeline for completion of system replacement or corrective actions; and
(B) procedures to ensure timely and accurate communication to building tenants regarding contract security personnel shortages or absences or security coverage gaps.
(b) Report to Congress.--Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter for 3 years, the Director shall submit to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate a report that includes--
(1) the determination made under subsection (a)(2);
(2) a detailed summary of any implementation actions undertaken pursuant to subsection (a);
(3) an evaluation of the effectiveness of tenant communication protocols; and
(4) any recommendations for additional legislative or administrative actions. SEC. 4. SAVINGS CLAUSE.
Nothing in this Act shall be construed as designating an employee of a contractor of the Department of Homeland Security who is engaged in the protection of Federal property pursuant to section 1315 of title 40, United States Code, as a Federal employee.
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Mr. BARRETT. 3425, as amended.
Mr. Speaker, H.R. 3425, the POST Act of 2025, strengthens the Federal Protective Service, or FPS, and their ability to secure Federal facilities and improve accountability for the contract guards who protect them.
The Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure has conducted bipartisan oversight of FPS operations and Federal facility security. Both testimony at hearings and Government Accountability Office reports have reinforced the need for these reforms.
The Federal Protective Service is tasked with securing approximately 9,000 GSA-leased and -owned facilities across America. To protect these buildings, FPS oversees over 15,000 contracted guards, known as protective security officers.
Despite the size and importance of the FPS' mission, serious vulnerabilities exist in its oversight of contract guards. For example, one GAO investigation found that contracted guards failed to detect concealed weapons, including batons and pepper spray, in half of covert security tests. While FPS uses covert testing to assess security vulnerabilities, they lack a standardized system to track, analyze, and respond to the results.
The POST Act addresses this critical gap by requiring the FPS Director to establish and maintain a centralized database to capture covert test data, including why a contract guard failed to detect contraband.
The legislation mandates quarterly analyses of this data to identify trends and training needs and requires targeted, corrective training for guards who fail covert tests, which helps to close performance gaps and improve public safety.
This is a commonsense reform that turns the tests that FPS is already conducting into data that can drive actionable improvements, making Federal buildings safer for employees and the American people who we serve.
The POST Act also tackles another persistent problem: FPS' broken shift tracking system.
In 2018, FPS launched the Post Tracking System to modernize its paper-based guard sign-in process. Seven years later, the Post Tracking System remains unreliable, and FPS still relies on paper records.
As a result, FPS has been unable to issue timely notifications to tenant agencies about guard shortages. In some cases, this even forced the closure of Federal buildings to the public.
The POST Act would require FPS to either fix PTS or replace it with a modern, dependable solution.
H.R. 3425 contains practical measures to improve FPS' oversight of contract guards, strengthen accountability, and improve safety at Federal buildings.
Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Utah (Mr. Kennedy) for his leadership on this legislation and the gentleman from Alabama (Mr. Figures) for working on this bipartisan bill.
Mr. Speaker, I urge support of this legislation, and I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. Speaker, H.R. 3425, as amended, strengthens oversight of the Federal Protective Service's contract guard program and ensures protective security officers are properly trained and accountable. Additionally, and importantly, this legislation modernizes critical systems to make Federal buildings safer for employees and the public.
Mr. Speaker, I urge support of H.R. 3425, as amended, and I yield back the balance of my time.
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Mr. BARRETT. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.
The yeas and nays were ordered.
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