MaxHR Developments Pending

The Bush administration has gone down almost to the wire—a September 25 deadline—for filing an appeal at the U.S. Supreme Court to challenge an appeals court’s rulings against several key components of the new personnel system planned at the Department of Homeland Security, MaxHR. The administration’s decision will signal the approach it plans to take during its last two years in office toward overhauling personnel policies not just at DHS but also at DoD—which is trying to impose similar rules—but also at other agencies. The choice essentially comes to continuing to fight things out in court or go back and rewrite the rules, both processes that could consume many months. The final outcome could go a long way in determining what approach will be taken in any future federal personnel law changes.