The catchall funding bill, along with a separate DoD authorization bill that President Bush is expected to sign at any time, also caps the year-long struggle over the alternative personnel systems those departments have been working to put into place. The spending bill bars DHS from spending any funds to implement the system originally known as MaxHR but now part of a larger initiative called the human capital operational plan, until all legal issues relating to it are settled—in effect, an indefinite stay. The DoD bill explicitly repeals authorities the Pentagon was granted in a 2003 law, although which it hasn’t so far implemented, to revise many labor relations, disciplinary and appeals procedures. The measure does allow DoD to proceed with its national security personnel system’s pay for performance elements, although with several new restrictions. It could be some time before new guidance comes out on how the system would operate under those restrictions.
