Sponsors (2)
The bill standardizes citizenship-based hiring rules and increases transparency across the executive branch, at the trade-off of restricting noncitizen hiring, creating administrative burdens, and imposing criminal penalties that could deter applicants and strain agency staffing and services.
Federal agencies and current/future federal employees will have clearer, uniform citizenship-based hiring rules across the executive branch, reducing ambiguity in eligibility determinations.
Taxpayers and federal employees gain more transparency because OPM must publish exceptions in the Federal Register and report counts by agency and position.
Federal agencies retain the ability to hire temporary noncitizen translators and emergency field workers for short-term surge needs, preserving critical operational capacity in crises and rural areas.
Noncitizen federal employees and applicants (including lawful permanent residents and other eligible noncitizens) could be barred from hiring or lose jobs, shrinking the labor pool and harming affected workers.
Federal agencies and taxpayers may face staffing shortages and higher costs if qualified noncitizen applicants are excluded, degrading service delivery and increasing recruitment expenses.
Prospective applicants (particularly immigrants) risk criminal penalties—fines up to $50,000 and up to 5 years imprisonment—for false affidavits, which could deter applications and potentially punish clerical or paperwork errors.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Requires affidavit and agency verification of U.S. citizenship for federal hires, bans noncitizen hires except narrow exceptions, adds reporting and criminal penalties for false affidavits.
Official title: To amend title 5, United States Code, to restrict the employment in the Federal Government of individuals who are not citizens or nationals, and for other purposes.
Introduced May 29, 2026 by Nancy Mace · Last progress May 29, 2026
Prohibits federal agencies from hiring noncitizens except for narrow, specified exceptions and requires pre-appointment affidavits and agency verification of U.S. citizenship or nationality. The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) must issue guidance and report agency-level lists of current noncitizen employees and those hired under exceptions; false affidavits are criminalized with fines and imprisonment. The measure explicitly covers the U.S. Postal Service and Postal Regulatory Commission, mandates publication in the Federal Register whenever an exception is used with an explanation, and adds a statutory entry for the new provision.