S. 2495 — 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, with 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 5 years per instance (with removal if the employer relocates the call center back to the United States with an equal or greater number of employees or amends the contract to require all work to be performed in the United States). The section makes employers on the list ineligible for new federal grants or guaranteed loans for 5 years (with an exception allowing awards upon certification of removal from the list within 180 days, subject to cancellation and clawback if unmet); for existing awards received after being listed, it imposes a monthly penalty of 8.3% of total amounts disbursed to date, halts further disbursements, and requires cancellation after 1 year (with penalties available to the awarding agency for the same program, excluding the penalized employer). The section further provides exceptions to ineligibility for national security, substantial U.S. job loss, or environmental harm (as determined by the Secretary in consultation with the awarding agency) and requires federal agencies to give contracting preferences to employers not on the list. The section takes effect 1 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, or 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, including (1) the amount conducted by federal employees versus federal contractors; (2) all locations of such work, whether by federal employees or contractors; and (3) any job losses associated with artificial intelligence use for customer service in federal call centers.

This section requires agency heads, when awarding civilian or defense-related federal contracts, to condition the contract—and any subcontract—on all call center work being performed inside the United States.

This section establishes disclosure requirements in customer service communications for business entities that initiate or receive such communications. Specifically, it requires participating employees or agents to disclose (1) their physical location at the start of each communication, and if outside the United States, the option to request transfer to a U.S.-based agent; and (2) if artificial intelligence is used, that a nonhuman system is in use and the option to request transfer to a U.S.-based human operator (including, if possible, by voice command such as saying "agent"). It mandates immediate transfer to a U.S.-based human agent upon consumer request; requires annual certification to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) of compliance; authorizes FTC exclusions and regulations (to be promulgated within one year of enactment); and applies these requirements to communications occurring one year after enactment (with exceptions for U.S.-only entities, consumer-initiated calls to known foreign agents, and emergency services).

This section establishes Federal Trade Commission (FTC) enforcement authority over violations of section 201 by treating such violations as violations of a rule under section 18(a)(1)(B) of the FTC Act (15 U.S.C. 57a(a)(1)(B)) (i.e., a rule defining unfair or deceptive acts or practices in or affecting commerce). The FTC may prevent such violations and impose penalties using all powers, jurisdiction, duties, privileges, and immunities provided under the FTC Act (15 U.S.C. 41 et seq.), while preserving all other FTC authorities.