We post news and comment on federal criminal justice issues, focused primarily on trial and post-conviction matters, legislative initiatives, and sentencing issues.

BOP TOLD TO DO MORE WITH LESS

The Trump administration is halting some hiring at the Bureau of Prisons despite chronic understaffing has led to long overtime shifts, augmentation by nurses, teachers, cooks and other workers as corrections officers, lockdowns and loss of programs.

Shane Fausey, former National President of the Council of Prison Locals, told the Senate Judiciary Committee in 2022 that staffing at BOP fell from 43,369 employees in January 2016 to 35,000 employees in September 2022. Currently, the BOP reports having 35,925 employees.

The Bureau of Prisons will maintain current staffing levels at least through September 30, Marshall wrote in an email to staff entitled “Staffing and Hiring Decisions.”

Meanwhile, Representatives Glenn Grothman (R-WI) and Elise Stefanik (R-NY) reintroduced the BOP Direct-Hire Authority Act, legislation intended to alleviate BOP staffing shortages by circumventing Office of Personnel Management procedures that can prolong the onboarding process for new hires to over six months.

“One of the main hurdles in President Trump’s effort to reopen Alcatraz will be the ability to quickly hire Correctional Officers,” Grothman said in a press release. “That is why Congress needs to quickly pass this legislation to help the federal prison system which has been understaffed and overwhelmed for years.”

A prior version of the bill was introduced last December as H.R. 6628 but died when the 118th Congress expired at the end of 2024.

Stefanik is chair of the House Republican Leadership Committee.

Associated Press, Cash-strapped Bureau of Prisons freezes some hiring to ‘avoid more extreme measures,’ director says (May 8, 2025)

The Sun, Stefanik supports reintroduction of BOP Direct-Hire Authority Act (May 14, 2025)

– Thomas L. Root