Congress targets offshored call centers with federal funding ban and disclosure rules
H.R. 4954 — Keep Call Centers in America Act of 2025 · Filed by Kristen McDonald Rivet (D-MI) · 16 cosponsors · Introduced Aug 12, 2025 · Referred to committee
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What it does
This bill creates a public list of employers who move call centers or call center work overseas, bars them from federal grants and guaranteed loans for 5 years, and requires companies to disclose when customer service agents are located outside the U.S. and to offer transfers to U.S.-based agents on request. It also mandates disclosure when artificial intelligence is used for customer service and requires federal contractors to keep call center work inside the U.S.
Why we flagged it
The bill's core mechanism is twofold: (1) economic punishment (grant/loan ineligibility) for companies that offshore call centers, and (2) mandatory consumer-facing disclosure of agent location and AI use. Both are aimed at protecting domestic employment and consumer information rights, not at commemorating individuals or serving narrow private interests.
What the text implies
- The 8.3% monthly penalty on existing federal grants/loans may create perverse incentives for companies to immediately cease all federal funding relationships rather than comply, potentially disrupting ongoing federal programs or services.
- The requirement that federal contractors keep all call center work in the U.S. may increase federal procurement costs, which could be absorbed through higher contract prices or reduced service scope—a hidden cost to taxpayers.
The full analysis lists 5 implications of this text.
Who stands to gain
U.S.-based call center operators and staffing firms; domestic business process outsourcing (BPO) companies; companies competing for federal contracts that do not offshore call centers