The annual DoD authorization bill passed by Congress repeals a widely used exception to a restriction on hiring of military retirees into DoD civilian positions soon after they retire.
Under the “180-day rule,” retired members of the armed forces generally may not be hired into civil service positions at DoD within 180 days of their retirement. However, there are several exceptions; one exception in effect since shortly after 9/11 has allowed such hiring at DoD based on a state of national emergency.
The final version of the bill accepted Senate language to repeal that exception; the House version did not address the issue.
The Senate report on the bill as it headed into the House-Senate conference cited a 2014 MSPB report finding that over 2001-2014, more than 41,000 military retirees were hired under that exception, a third of them before they even retired and half within one pay period of their retirement. “While not improper, per se, it does, as the MSPB report noted, create suspicions,” the Senate report said.
The Senate also said it is concerned about the effect this practice has on diversity within the department, “not just in terms of diversity as it is traditionally defined, but also on diversity of thought, experience, and background within the department that is desirable in any organization.”
