Congress fast-tracks veterans into Border Patrol with new training pipeline
H.R. 4160 — Veterans Border Patrol Training Act · Filed by Mike Carey (R-OH) · 3 cosponsors · Introduced Jun 26, 2025 · Referred to committee
Your members of Congress
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What it does
This bill directs the Department of Homeland Security to create a 5-year pilot program that uses the Department of Defense's SkillBridge training program to recruit and train transitioning military members and veterans as Border Patrol agents. The three departments (DHS, DoD, and Veterans Affairs) will collaborate to facilitate the transition, with annual reporting to Congress on participation numbers and demographics.
Why we flagged it
The bill's core function is establishing a structured training and hiring program for transitioning military personnel into a specific federal law enforcement role, with built-in oversight and a defined sunset.
What the text implies
- The program leverages existing DoD SkillBridge authorities (10 USC § 1143) rather than creating new training infrastructure, potentially reducing implementation costs but also constraining program design to existing military transition frameworks.
- Annual reporting requirements create a public record of recruitment success and demographic composition, enabling future policy decisions about whether to expand or modify the program based on measurable outcomes.
- The 5-year sunset is automatic unless Congress affirmatively reauthorizes, placing the burden on program advocates to demonstrate value rather than on critics to justify termination.
Section numbers refer to the bill text the analysis read — linked under Primary records below.
Who it affects
The bill creates a pathway for transitioning servicemembers to enter federal law enforcement with structured training, potentially improving Border Patrol recruitment and retention while providing veterans a direct employment opportunity. The program is time-limited, transparent, and subject to congressional oversight through mandatory annual reporting.
Named in the bill
Department of Homeland Security, Department of Defense, Department of Veterans Affairs, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, SkillBridge Program, House Committee on Veterans' Affairs, Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs
Where it stands
3 cosponsors: 2 Republicans, 1 Democrats.
- Jun 26, 2025 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
- Jun 26, 2025 — Referred to House Committee on Veterans' Affairs and House Committee on Armed Services · Congress.gov: “Referred to the Committee on Homeland Security, and in addition to the Committees on Armed Services, and…”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
Money around this bill
1 lobbying clients named this bill on 2 disclosure filings across 2 quarters, Dec 2025 to Jun 2026. Those filings disclosed $310,451 in lobbying spend. A filing names 170 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 0% of bills with at least one filing.
Mike Carey, the sponsor, reported $1,809,017 in PAC receipts in the 2026 cycle.
- Disabled American Veterans — $310,451 on 2 filings
Lobbying Disclosure Act filings through Jul 21, 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 (2,248 characters) on Aug 17, 2026. Section numbers in the findings refer to that text, linked below; transparency and hidden-provision scores are compared against the median of 16,222 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 21, 2026 · page rendered 2026-10-20.
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