Washington D.C. – U.S. Senator Jon Ossoff is warning that the Trump Administration’s pay cut for prison staff puts public safety at risk.
Today, Sen. Ossoff warned Attorney General Pam Bondi and Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) Associate Deputy Director Kathleen Toomey that their efforts to reduce pay for prison staff threatens the safety and security of prisons amid pre-existing staffing shortages.
“I write with concern regarding the Federal Bureau of Prisons’ (BOP) decision to significantly reduce—and in some cases completely eliminate—retention pay for over half of all BOP employees, effective March 23, 2025,” Sen. Ossoff wrote to Attorney General Bondi and BOP Associate Deputy Director Toomey. “This decision will effectively cut pay for affected staff by up to 25% and threatens to drive out critical personnel.”
According to a February 2024 report by the Department of Justice (DOJ) Office of the Inspector General (OIG), staffing shortages are one of the largest threats to inmate and staff safety.
Recent reports indicate that cuts to retention pay are already leading to resignations among prison staff.
“Losing such critical personnel threatens to make the existing staffing shortage far worse,” Sen. Ossoff continued.“I therefore strongly urge BOP to reconsider its decision.”
According to testimony by the Council of Prisons Locals 33 in 2023, 40% of correctional officer positions across the country had not been filled.
Sen. Ossoff continues working to strengthen security and protect the civil and human rights of inmates and staff.
This month, Sen. Ossoff urged Attorney General Pam Bondi to accelerate implementation of the bipartisan Prison Camera Reform Act, which was passed and signed into law in 2022.
Last month, Sens. Ossoff and Chuck Grassley (R-IA) introduced the bipartisan Lieutenant Osvaldo Albarati Stopping Prison Contraband Act, which would crack down on the smuggling of contraband cellphones into Federal prisons by upgrading the charge of smuggling of a contraband cellphone into a Federal prison from a misdemeanor offense to a felony.
Earlier this year, Sens. Ossoff and Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) introduced the bipartisan Prison Staff Safety Enhancement Act, which would require the Department of Justice (DOJ) to develop and implement a comprehensive strategy to mitigate inmate-on-staff sexual assault in Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) facilities and help end sexual abuse in prisons.
Click here to read Sen. Ossoff’s inquiry.
# # #
