Federal Protective Service FPS

The Federal Protective Service traces its roots to watchmen who guarded federal buildings in the early republic and was formally created within the General Services Administration in 1971. The Homeland Security Act of 2002 moved it to the new Department of Homeland Security in 2003. It protects about 9,000 federal facilities owned or leased by the GSA, from courthouses and Social Security offices to agency headquarters, along with the federal employees and visitors who use them.

The service has about 1,400 federal law enforcement officers and inspectors who conduct security assessments and respond to incidents, and it oversees roughly 13,000 contract guards who staff entrances and screening posts. It is funded by fees charged to the agencies it protects rather than by direct appropriations. After the bombing of the Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City on April 19, 1995, which killed 168 people, the government created the Interagency Security Committee to set security standards for federal buildings.

The agency's officers have been deployed to protect federal property during protests, including at the federal courthouse in Portland, Oregon, in 2020 and at immigration facilities in several cities in 2025, deployments that drew criticism from local officials and lawsuits over tactics. Government Accountability Office reviews have repeatedly found weaknesses in contract guard training and screening. Supporters say the agency protects workers and visitors and defends federal property, while critics say its role in policing protests needs clearer limits.