The Senate expects to finish voting this week on a DoD bill (S-2943) containing significant changes in several federal employee policies, shifting the focus to an upcoming conference with the House—which previously passed its own version of the bill without those provisions. The Senate measure would raise the maximum buyout payment for DoD employees from $25,000 to $40,000; make veterans preference applicable government-wide only on initial hiring; end an exception that has been commonly used to hire military retirees into federal positions soon after their retirement; and make numerous changes designed to improve hiring and retention in high-demand positions. DoD requested those changes as well as the higher buyout amount, although the language regarding veterans preference apparently was the initiative of the Armed Services Committee—which, unusually for such a major potential change, held no hearings on it first. The annual DoD bill is considered “must-pass” legislation, although the conference on it commonly is a lengthy one and doesn’t even start until after a period of preliminary work. Thus, a final decision may not emerge for months and potentially not until late in the year. During that time, veterans’ groups and other proponents of veterans preference are expected to work to delete or soften those provisions.