H.R. 4954 — Keep Call Centers in America Act of 2025

This section requires employers to notify the Secretary at least 120 days before relocating a call center outside the United States or contracting call center work overseas, subject to a civil penalty of up to $10,000 per day for violations, and directs the Secretary to establish and maintain a public list of such employers for up to five years per instance (with removal if the employer relocates the call center back to the United States with equal or greater employment or amends overseas contracts to U.S.-only work). It makes employers on the list ineligible for new federal grants or guaranteed loans for five years, subject to an exception for those certifying removal from the list within 180 days (with clawback and cancellation if unmet); for existing awards, it imposes a monthly penalty equal to 8.3% of amounts already disbursed, halts further disbursements, and requires cancellation after one year (with penalties available to the awarding agency for the same program, excluding the penalized employer). The Secretary may waive ineligibility, in consultation with the awarding agency, if denial would threaten national security, cause substantial U.S. job loss, or harm the environment. It requires agency heads to give preference, in awarding civilian or defense-related federal contracts, to employers not on the list. The section takes effect one year after enactment.

This section provides that no provision of this title may be construed to permit the withholding or denial of payments, compensation, or benefits under federal law—including unemployment compensation, disability payments, and worker retraining or readjustment funds—to workers employed by employers that relocate operations outside the United States.

This section directs the Secretary of Labor to submit to Congress, not later than one year after enactment, a report documenting the location and amount of call center work conducted by or for the Federal Government. The report must include (1) the amount performed by Federal employees versus contractors, (2) all locations of such work, and (3) any job losses associated with artificial intelligence use in Federal call center customer service.

This section requires the head of an agency, when awarding a civilian or defense-related federal contract, to include as a contract condition that any call center work performed in connection with the contract or any subcontract be performed inside the United States.

This section requires business entities initiating or receiving customer service communications to disclose at the beginning of each communication (1) the physical location of participating employees or agents and, if outside the United States, the consumer's option to request immediate transfer to a U.S.-based agent (with exceptions for U.S.-based entities, consumer-initiated calls to known foreign agents, emergency services, and FTC exclusions); and (2) any use of artificial intelligence, along with the consumer's option to request immediate transfer to a U.S.-based human operator (including, if possible, by voice command such as "agent"). The section further requires businesses to effect such transfers upon consumer request; mandates annual compliance certifications to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC); directs the FTC to promulgate implementing regulations within one year of enactment; and applies these requirements to communications occurring on or after one year after enactment.

This section treats any failure to comply with section 201 as a violation of a regulation under section 18(a)(1)(B) of the Federal Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 57a(a)(1)(B)) regarding unfair or deceptive acts or practices and authorizes the Federal Trade Commission to enforce section 201 and related regulations using the full powers, jurisdiction, duties, penalties, privileges, and immunities of the Federal Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 41 et seq.). This section preserves the Commission's authority under any other provision of law.