Congress Raises Capitol Police Mandatory Retirement Age

WASHINGTON, June 4, 2026 — President Trump signed Public Law 119-95 into law today, the measure that raises the mandatory retirement age for members of the United States Capitol Police.

The law affects the roughly 2,000 sworn officers of the Capitol Police, the federal law-enforcement agency charged with protecting the U.S. Capitol complex, congressional members and staff, and visitors. Officers currently face mandatory separation at age 57 under the special retirement provisions of 5 U.S.C. chapters 83 and 84 that apply to federal law-enforcement personnel.

Public Law 119-95 amends those chapters to permit an increase in the retirement age. The statute takes effect immediately upon enactment. It removes the prior statutory cap and allows the Capitol Police chief, subject to congressional oversight, to retain officers beyond the previous limit on a case-by-case or categorical basis.

The operational change means the Capitol Police can retain experienced personnel longer, reducing near-term hiring and training demands. It also delays the start of annuity payments for affected officers, lowering near-term outlays from the Civil Service Retirement and Disability Fund.

Congress must now adjust future budget baselines for the Capitol Police to reflect the revised retirement demographics, and the Office of Personnel Management will update its actuarial models for the fund.

This marks the second statutory adjustment to Capitol Police retirement rules in the 119th Congress. The original mandatory age-57 separation was set decades earlier to maintain physical standards for protective duties; lawmakers have separately considered broader federal law-enforcement retirement reforms in both the House and Senate this session.

The text of the enrolled bill was transmitted to the Archivist for publication in the Statutes at Large.