New Act Blacklists Companies That Offshore Call Center Jobs, Mandates Consumer Right to a U.S. Agent

The “Keep Call Centers in America Act of 2025” is a major move aimed at bringing customer service jobs back home and changing how consumers interact with companies. Essentially, this bill puts a hard line in the sand: if you’re a business with a call center, moving those jobs overseas will now cost you big time, and consumers get new rights to demand a U.S.-based agent.

The Federal Blacklist and the 5-Year Timeout

Title I of the Act creates a public blacklist for any company that moves a call center or contracts out at least 30% of its call volume overseas. If you land on this list, you’re barred from receiving federal grants or guaranteed loans for five years. Think of it as a five-year timeout from Uncle Sam’s wallet. For companies that rely on federal funding—say, tech firms seeking research grants or banks using federal loan guarantees—this is a massive financial deterrent. The bill requires companies to notify the Secretary of Labor 120 days before any such move, and failing to do so comes with a penalty of up to $10,000 per day (SEC. 101).

If a company is already receiving federal money and then gets blacklisted, the penalties hit immediately. They have to start paying a monthly penalty equal to 8.3% of the total amount received so far. If they’re still on the list after a year, the entire grant or loan is canceled and clawed back. This isn’t just a slap on the wrist; it’s a serious financial threat designed to make offshoring an extremely expensive decision. On the flip side, the bill protects workers whose jobs are moved overseas, guaranteeing that their existing federal benefits remain safe and are not denied just because their employer relocated (SEC. 102).

Government Work Must Stay Home

The Act also tightens the rules for federal contracts. Under Section 104, any federal agency—civilian or defense—must now include a provision in its contracts requiring that all related call center work be performed exclusively within the United States. This means if you’re a contractor handling customer service for Medicare, the VA, or the IRS, those jobs are legally required to stay domestic. Furthermore, the Department of Labor is tasked with producing a detailed report for Congress on where all federal call center work is currently located, including tracking any job losses caused by the introduction of Artificial Intelligence (AI) into government customer service operations (SEC. 103).

Your New Right to Demand a U.S. Agent

Title II is where the rubber meets the road for consumers. When you call customer service, the agent must now immediately disclose their physical location. If they are outside the U.S., they must inform you that you have the right to request an immediate transfer to an agent located in the United States (SEC. 201). This closes the loop for anyone who has struggled to communicate with an overseas representative and wished they could just speak to someone local. The business must comply and make that transfer immediately.

This same disclosure rule applies if a business is using AI or a machine to handle the customer service call. If you hear a bot, the company must disclose that it’s AI and let you immediately request a transfer to a human agent located in the U.S. Businesses must certify annually to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) that they are following these disclosure and transfer rules. Violations are treated as serious consumer protection issues under FTC law, meaning the agency can step in with its full enforcement power (SEC. 202).

The Real-World Trade-Offs

While the goal of bringing jobs home and improving transparency is clear, there are practical challenges. Companies that currently rely on lower-cost overseas centers will face a significant choice: either absorb the cost of moving operations back to the U.S. or risk being blacklisted and losing access to federal money. For consumers, this could translate into higher prices for goods and services or potentially longer wait times as companies adjust to higher labor costs or rush to hire domestic staff. The bill also has a medium level of vagueness regarding the 30% volume threshold for defining a 'relocation,' which could lead to complex accounting or reporting issues as companies try to avoid the blacklist.