Sponsors (3)
The bill strengthens federal biotechnology workforce planning, training, and rapid access to expertise by clarifying roles and enabling exchanges, but it increases administrative work, raises privacy and conflict-of-interest risks, and may require additional funding.
Federal agencies and federal biotechnology employees will know how many biotech positions are needed now and in 5–10 years, enabling better long-term hiring, workforce planning, and capacity building.
Agencies will gain faster, short-term access to biotech expertise through prequalified cleared experts and public-private talent exchanges, improving operational responsiveness and national security posture.
The bill expands training, detail opportunities, and public-private exchanges to upskill current federal employees into biotechnology roles, reducing hiring gaps and broadening skills transfer between sectors.
Collecting and reporting workforce and security-clearance data could expose sensitive personnel information or create personnel-security risks for federal employees if not carefully protected.
Public-private talent exchanges raise conflicts-of-interest and revolving-door risks for participating employees and contractors unless specific safeguards and ethics rules are required.
Giving the OPM Director discretion to add unspecified 'other' agencies could create uncertainty about which organizations must comply and expand the program unpredictably.
Based on analysis of 3 sections of legislative text.
Requires OPM and designated agencies to inventory and assess the federal biotechnology workforce and report current and projected needs to Congress within 180 days.
Official title: To assess the biotechnology workforce needs of certain Federal agencies, and for other purposes.
Introduced May 20, 2026 by Ro Khanna · Last progress May 20, 2026
Requires the Office of Personnel Management, working with 15 named federal departments and any other agencies the OPM Director designates, to identify and inventory the federal biotechnology workforce and produce a government-wide assessment of current and projected biotechnology workforce needs. The assessment must cover counts of biotechnology positions (current and projected at 5 and 10 years), filled vacancies, job descriptions and qualifications (including security clearance needs), classification and recruitment challenges, training and detail usage, mechanisms to access cleared outside experts, and use of public-private talent exchanges, with a report to the two named congressional committees within 180 days of enactment. The law sets definitions for key terms (including which agencies and committees are “appropriate,” what counts as a biotechnology position, the OPM Director as the implementing official, and public-private talent exchanges) and directs agency heads to cooperate with OPM to complete and submit the workforce assessment report on schedule.