Sponsors (25)
The bill increases protections, consent rights, and transparency for competitive-service federal employees, but reduces agencies' hiring flexibility for urgent or political positions and imposes additional administrative and reporting costs.
Federal employees in the competitive service gain stronger job stability because agencies cannot convert competitive-service positions to excepted service except under narrow, pre-2020 schedules and rules.
Federal employees must give written consent before most transfers between competitive and excepted service, increasing employee control over career moves and protecting against involuntary reclassification.
OPM must report annually to Congress on conversions between competitive and excepted service, improving transparency and congressional oversight of hiring authorities.
Agencies will have reduced flexibility to quickly fill specialized, urgent, or political positions because excepted hiring authorities and Schedule C transfers are narrowed and/or require OPM approval, which could slow recruitment for mission-critical posts and complicate short-term staffing for incoming administrations.
New compliance and reporting obligations for agencies and OPM will increase administrative burden and costs, consuming staff time and potentially raising costs for taxpayers.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Limits and controls agency conversions of competitive-service federal jobs to excepted service, requires employee consent, caps conversions per presidential term, and requires OPM oversight and reporting.
Prohibits most conversions of federal competitive-service jobs into excepted-service positions, requires written employee consent for most transfers between competitive and excepted service (and between excepted-service schedules), limits how many conversions an agency can make during a presidential term, and requires OPM approval and public reporting of conversions. The Office of Personnel Management must issue implementing regulations within 90 days and report annually to Congress on positions moved and any violations.
Introduced January 16, 2025 by Timothy Michael Kaine · Last progress January 16, 2025