Sponsor
Robert Menendez
Representative · D-NJ
The bill increases pay flexibility (including retroactive raises) and transparency to help the NRC recruit and retain senior staff, at the cost of higher potential taxpayer expenses and risks of perceived unfairness and centralized pay discretion.
NRC career appointees (current and future) can receive pay up to 110% of the Commission's maximum SES rate, with the authority applied retroactively to incumbents so eligible current staff benefit immediately, improving the NRC's ability to recruit and retain senior technical and managerial talent.
NRC career appointees remain subject to the Commission's certified performance appraisal requirements, preserving performance-based accountability for those receiving higher pay.
The bill requires reporting to the public and GAO on how many career appointees had pay fixed under this authority, increasing transparency about pay decisions funded by taxpayers.
If used broadly, higher authorized pay for NRC career appointees could increase federal payroll costs paid by taxpayers.
Retroactive pay authority that benefits incumbents may create perceptions of unfairness among other federal employees who are not covered by this special pay authority.
Concentrating enhanced pay-setting discretion at the NRC Chairman could centralize authority, raising concerns about inconsistent application or favoritism in pay decisions.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Allows the NRC Chairman to set career appointee basic pay up to 110% of the Commission's maximum SES rate and requires related reporting and GAO review.
Representative · D-NJ
Allows the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) Chairman to set the basic pay of career appointees up to 110% of the Commission’s maximum Senior Executive Service (SES) rate, and makes that authority apply retroactively to current incumbents. It preserves existing performance-certification requirements and updates related reporting and cross-references in statute and GAO reporting requirements. The change adds a new compensation authority, adjusts statutory subsection numbering and cross-references, requires reporting of how many career appointees are paid under the new authority, and expands the scope of an existing GAO report to include this new pay authority.
Official title: To amend the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 to provide compensation authority for certain career appointees, and for other purposes.
Introduced July 9, 2026 by Robert Menendez · Last progress July 9, 2026