S. 698 — Federal Prisons Accountability Act of 2025

This section states congressional findings on the Bureau of Prisons (BOP), including its FY2024 budget exceeding $8.39 billion (second largest in the Department of Justice after the FBI), oversight of 122 facilities and more than 155,000 federal inmates as of 2025, supervision of more than 35,000 employees in hazardous environments interacting with violent offenders, and the lack of Senate confirmation for the BOP director despite Senate confirmation for directors of other major DOJ components (e.g., FBI, ATF, DEA).

This section revises the appointment of the Director of the Bureau of Prisons to require presidential appointment by and with the advice and consent of the Senate (from appointment by the Attorney General), with the director continuing to serve directly under the Attorney General. The section (1) allows the incumbent director to serve until three months after enactment; (2) permits the President to appoint the incumbent under the new process; and (3) establishes a 10-year term for directors appointed on or after enactment, with holdover authority until a successor is confirmed and a limit of one term.