Fedweek

Also left at least until the September session—and potentially until a post-election session, since Congress will again be in recess during October and early November—is the annual DoD authorization bill. The Senate version, but not the House version, would raise the buyout maximum at DoD from $25,000 to $40,000, while allowing veterans preference to apply government-wide only to an individual’s first federal competitive service job (that would not affect non-competitive hiring authorities for veterans, nor their advantage in RIFs). The House version does not address of those issues, although in voting on the general government appropriations bill, the House overwhelmingly rejected any changes in veterans preference.