# What This Bill Does

This bill gives the head of U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) more flexibility to reorganize how the agency handles customs duties and revenue collection. Right now, CBP has to follow pretty strict rules about how it can shuffle around its customs operations and staff. This bill loosens those restrictions, allowing the CBP Commissioner to consolidate different customs jobs, create new positions, change job titles and classifications, and reorganize how the agency is structured—basically giving them a freer hand to run the agency the way they think works best.

The bill does include some guardrails to prevent abuse. It prevents CBP from cutting staff below what's considered the "optimal" staffing level according to the agency's own resource planning models. It also specifically protects certain specialized positions like Financial Systems Specialists, National Account Managers, and International Trade Analysts from being eliminated or consolidated away. These are the people who handle complex customs paperwork, manage relationships with major importers, and analyze trade data.

For most people, this won't have an immediate noticeable effect on their daily lives. However, it could matter if you're involved in importing goods or doing international business. The reorganization could potentially speed up customs processing if done efficiently, or it could create confusion if the changes aren't well-coordinated. The bill also asks the federal Office of Personnel Management to help create new job classification standards if CBP creates entirely new positions, which is mainly a behind-the-scenes administrative matter.

To amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 relating to authority of U.S. Customs and Border Protection to consolidate, modify, or reorganize Customs revenue functions.

Steel, Michelle

This bill expands the authority of U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to consolidate, modify, or reorganize customs revenue functions. For example, this bill authorizes CBP to add functions to existing positions that perform these revenue functions. CBP may also establish new job series and grades for personnel that perform these functions. The bill also modifies a provision that prohibits CBP from reducing the staffing level of certain revenue functions (e.g., import specialists, entry specialists, and customs auditors). Specifically, this bill relaxes this prohibition by allowing for reductions if the reduction will not result in a staffing level below the optimal level as determined in a specified resource allocation model. (Currently, CBP is required to report to Congress every two years the results of this model to determine the optimal staffing levels for carrying out CBP commercial operations.) The bill also expands this staffing level reduction restriction to also apply to national account managers and international trade analysts.