H.R. 2641, Day 1, Dollar 1 E-Verify Act

H.R. 2641 would require all federal contractors and their subcontractors to use E-Verify, a federal web-based system that allows public- and private-sector employers to confirm that newly hired employees are eligible to work in the United States.

Under current law, federal contractors are required to use the system for contracts of more than $150,000, for work performed inside the United States, or that have a period of performance of more than 120 days. Subcontractors whose services are worth more than $3,500 or are for work performed in the United States also are required to use the system. Additionally, 23 states require some or all employers to use E-Verify.

Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) receives about 45 million E-Verify queries annually. Using data from the Department of the Treasury on the volume of individual employers with federal contracts for less than $150,000 or entities with subcontracts for less than $3,500 in recent years (who are not currently required to use E-Verify), CBO estimates that the bill would increase the number of queries to the system by about 75,000 annually. Based on the historical percentage of queries that require manual review, CBO estimates that USCIS would incur administrative and personnel costs of less than $500,000 over the 2026‑2031 period to implement H.R. 2641. Any related spending would be subject to the availability of appropriated funds.

H.R. 2641 would impose a private-sector mandate as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act (UMRA) by requiring all federal contractors and their subcontractors to use E‑Verify to confirm the work authorization of their employees. The time and effort by those employers to complete the verification would be the cost of the mandate. Using federal data on contractors, CBO estimates that roughly 75,000 additional employees would need to be verified annually. CBO estimates that the annual cost for contractors and subcontractors to comply with that mandate would be about $300,000 annually and would not exceed the annual threshold established in UMRA ($214 million in 2026, adjusted annually for inflation).

H.R. 2641 contains no intergovernmental mandates established in UMRA.

The CBO staff contacts for this estimate are Jeremy Crimm (for federal costs) and Rachel Austin (for mandates). The estimate was reviewed by H. Samuel Papenfuss, Deputy Director of Budget Analysis.