DHS Appropriations Also Pending

Neither the House nor Senate has voted on the DHS appropriations measures, both of which seek to boost employment, particularly of Customs and Border Protection officers. The Senate bill further prohibits DHS from putting bargaining unit employees in any new personnel system, while the House version would restrict funding overall for the program, as has been done several times in recent years with the effect of essentially putting the program on hold. DHS earlier this year dropped plans to put in place an alternative labor relations program that would have strengthened management’s hand in numerous areas. It is free in theory at least to carry out other parts of the planned program—still most commonly called MaxHR although formally part of a larger initiative called the human capital operational plan–including a pay for performance system, but bargaining over them could be a long and contentious process.