Court Case a Complicating Factor

At the hearing, deputy Secretary Gordon England, the Pentagon’s point man on NSPS, said that if DoD loses again in court, the “department may come back to Congress next year to seek clarification, to allow full implementation of NSPS.” Presumably that would involve a request for specific authority to carry out the planned changes at issue in the case. Such a request could face tough going in Congress, since the provisions in dispute involve fundamental issues such as due process and union rights. He also noted that under the current law, the labor relations provisions expire in 2009 unless renewed before then, and indicated that due to the numerous delays in getting NSPS operating, DoD may ask for that deadline to be pushed back.