Congress ensures border agents get paid during shutdown standoffs
H.R. 1916 — Pay Our Border Patrol and Customs Agents Act of 2025 · Filed by Mónica De La Cruz (R-TX) · 20 cosponsors · Introduced Mar 6, 2025 · Referred to committee
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What it does
This bill appropriates emergency funds to pay the salaries and expenses of Border Patrol agents and CBP field officers who continue working during a government shutdown in fiscal year 2025. It ensures these essential personnel receive paychecks even when normal appropriations lapse, without requiring them to work unpaid.
Why we flagged it
The bill is a straightforward emergency appropriation measure designed to ensure continuity of pay for federal employees in an essential function during fiscal disruptions. It contains no policy changes, restrictions, or structural reforms—only a funding mechanism.
What the text implies
- Establishes precedent that certain federal employees (border security) are deemed essential and entitled to uninterrupted pay during shutdowns, potentially creating pressure for similar carve-outs for other agencies.
- Does not address the underlying shutdown mechanism or appropriations process; it is a band-aid that may reduce political pressure to resolve shutdown disputes.
- Scope limited to CBP agents and field operations officers; other DHS personnel (ICE, TSA, etc.) and federal employees in other agencies remain subject to furlough and unpaid work during shutdowns.
Section numbers refer to the bill text the analysis read — linked under Primary records below.
Who it affects
The bill ensures federal employees performing essential border security work receive compensation during shutdowns, preventing unpaid labor and maintaining operational continuity. This protects both worker welfare and public safety functions.
Who stands to gain
- U.S. Border Patrol agents
- CBP Office of Field Operations officers
Named in the bill
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), U.S. Border Patrol, Office of Field Operations, U.S. Treasury, House Committee on Appropriations
Where it stands
20 cosponsors: 19 Republicans, 1 Democrats.
- Mar 6, 2025 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
- Mar 6, 2025 — Referred to House Committee on Appropriations · Congress.gov: “Referred to the House Committee on Appropriations”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
Money around this bill
2 lobbying clients named this bill on 4 disclosure filings across 2 quarters, Dec 2025 to Jun 2026. Those filings disclosed $2,991,100 in lobbying spend. A filing names 42 bills on average, so that figure is what each filing reported, not a share belonging to this bill.
More lobbying clients named this bill than 41% of bills with at least one filing.
Mónica De La Cruz, the sponsor, reported $759,099 in PAC receipts in the 2026 cycle.
- Air Transport Association of America, Inc. (d/b/a Airlines for America) — $2,301,100 on 2 filings
- National Treasury Employees Union — $690,000 on 2 filings
Lobbying Disclosure Act filings through Jul 20, 2026. A filing shows who paid to lobby on a bill it names, not what changed.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the bill text published by Congress.gov (668 characters) on Sep 25, 2026. Section numbers in the findings refer to that text, linked below; transparency and hidden-provision scores are compared against the median of 14,985 analysed bills.
Status and sponsors — Congress.gov's bill record — actions, committee referrals and cosponsors — loaded nightly. The timeline shows status changes, not every procedural action.
Money — Senate Lobbying Disclosure Act filings whose specific-issue field names this bill for quarters ending Dec 2025 to Jun 2026. A filing's amount is reported whole beside the median number of bills a filing names; it is never divided across them. PAC receipts are FEC-reported contributions to the sponsor's candidate committee in the 2026 cycle.
As of — lobbying records through Jul 20, 2026 · page rendered 2026-09-25.
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