Full Committee Business Meeting

Today, the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee held a markup to consider five pieces of legislation, including several proposals enacting federal personnel reforms. The following actions were taken by the Committee:

H.R. 1671, the Government Neutrality in Contracting Act (Rep. Mulvaney, R-SC);

• The bill was approved by voice vote.
• Repeals Executive Order 13502 providing agencies the authority to require project labor agreements on federal government construction projects;
• Ensures the federal government remains neutral toward labor relations of contractors and expands job opportunities.

H.R. 3023, To amend title 5, United States Code, to modify probationary periods with respect to positions within the competitive service and the Senior Executive Service (SES) (Rep. Buck, R-CO);

• The bill was approved in a recorded vote. (20-16)
• Ranking Member Cummings (D-MD) offered an Amendment in the Nature of a Substitute (ANS) which would strike the bill and require GAO to conduct a study on the impact of lengthening the probationary period. The ANS was defeated in a recorded vote (20-14).
• Rep. Lawrence (D-MI) offered an ANS which would strike the bill and allow an agency head to unilaterally affirm an employees’ permanent status 30 days after the 1-year probationary period ends; if the agency head does not act after the 30 day period, the employee automatically receives permanent status. The ANS was defeated by voice vote.

H.R.4358, the Senior Executive Service Accountability Act (Rep. Walberg, R-MI);

• The bill was approved in a recorded vote. (21-16)
• Enhances accountability within SES.
• Rep. Norton (D-DC) offered an amendment striking roughly half of the bill. The amendment was defeated by voice vote.

H.R. 4360, the Official Personnel File Enhancement Act (Rep. Chaffetz, R-UT);

• The bill was approved by voice vote, as amended.
• Provides that an agency must record any adverse findings from a resolved investigation in a separated employee’s official personnel file.
• Rep. Connolly (D-VA) offered an amendment to ensure due process will continue after notation in an employee’s file has been made. The amendment was approved by voice vote.

H.R. 4359, the Administrative Leave Reform Act (Rep. Chaffetz, R-UT);

• The bill was withdrawn.
• Limits the number of days a federal employee may be placed on administrative leave for reasons relating to misconduct or poor performance.