Chances of Movement Iffy

Congress appears reluctant to act on a major overhaul of federal personnel while the DoD and DHS situations continue to evolve, officials say. Both systems have been partly blocked by court action. The DHS system has been largely stalled, while DoD has moved ahead with implementing certain parts of its national security personnel system not affected by its court order. Some 77,000 DoD employees are now under NSPS, and a third phase—the participating components are to be announced soon–is due to begin in the spring. Both systems rely on pay banding with raises based on market factors and performance.