Criminal investigators at the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services are among several law enforcement positions added by OPM to its special pay rate eligibility, earning them a 3.8% pay raise. Kevin Carter / Getty Images
OPM expands job roles receiving 3.8% law enforcement pay raise
OPM Director Scott Kupor designated more job roles eligible for the special pay rate created for federal law enforcement.
The Office of Personnel Management has named more job roles eligible for the 3.8% across-the-board pay raise it established for federal law enforcement in December.
In a Jan. 23 memo, OPM Director Scott Kupor designated additional positions at the Homeland Security, Treasury and Commerce departments and their component agencies, as well as officials providing personal protection services at the departments and other agencies.
“These additional positions also support ongoing agency hiring efforts for mission-critical law enforcement occupations essential to implementing the Administration’s priorities to secure the border, enforce federal laws, and protect public safety,” Kupor said in the Jan. 23 memo.
The move comes after OPM created an alternative pay plan for federal law enforcement in August 2025 and finalized the 2.8% supplemental pay raise that combined with the Trump administration’s 1% raise for most federal employees in December, adding that agencies could later name additional positions to the special pay rate “at any time”.
The new positions include:
Commerce Department: Criminal investigators/special agents, police officers within the Office of Security and certain employees under the Commerce Alternative Personnel System, such as police officers, police chief and deputy chief positions, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s criminal investigators and enforcement officers with arrest authority.
Homeland Security Department: Criminal investigators at the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services and U.S. Coast Guard; criminal investigators and physical security specialists meeting the statue code definition of “law enforcement officer” at Federal Law Enforcement Training Centers; police officers, police chief and deputy chief positions at the Federal Emergency Management Agency; and investigative program specialists and protective security investigators meeting the definition of “law enforcement officer” at Customs and Border Protection.
Treasury Department: IRS special agents at all pay grades.
Under the new memo, law enforcement officers providing personal protection services at the departments of Commerce, Energy, Homeland Security, Housing and Urban Development, Transportation and Veterans Affairs, as well as the U.S Trade Representative, Environmental Protection Agency, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and Small Business Administration are also included in the special pay rate.
The new positions’ pay rate will still be effective as of Jan. 11 and will be subject to a federal pay cap, which is currently $197,200 per year.