Legislation requiring federal building managers to adopt security recommendations from the Federal Protective Service has cleared the House and Senate and has been sent to the president. Smith Collection /Gado / Getty Images
Legislation to promote better federal building security set to be signed into law
Multiple watchdogs have recently criticized the effectiveness of security at government facilities.
The House on Tuesday passed a bill that is now awaiting the president’s signature to prompt agencies to implement measures that bolster security at federal buildings.
Specifically, the Improving Federal Building Security Act (S. 3613) would require building managers to adopt recommendations from the Federal Protective Service, which secures more than 8,500 federal facilities, or explain to the Homeland Security secretary why they are not doing so.
The Government Accountability Office reported in 2022 that FPS issued more than 25,000 security recommendations between fiscal 2017 and 2021. But for 57% of the recommendations the agency did not receive a response whether facilities planned to implement them and 12% were rejected. FPS and GAO officials testified to Congress that same year that agencies often don’t implement the fixes due to a lack of funding.
The bill specifies that no additional funds are authorized to implement its requirements, which would sunset five years following enactment. It also would require the Homeland Security Department to submit an unredacted report to Congress on surveillance technology recommended by FPS and annually summarize FPS recommendations and the percentage of them that buildings accepted or rejected.
The House passed the bill 410-6. The Senate cleared it in March by unanimous consent.
President Joe Biden in 2023 updated an interagency committee focused on federal building security by adding protection of hybrid and remote workers to its jurisdiction.
An October report from the DHS inspector general found gaps in FPS’ oversight of contracted security services at federal buildings.
GAO also is reviewing the performance of FPS contractors. Based on preliminary results, an official from the watchdog testified in July that investigators conducted 27 covert tests attempting to bring prohibited items into federal buildings, with guards failing to detect the items about half of the time.