An aerial view of Washington, D.C. is seen from Marine One, Tuesday, August 10, 2021, en route to the White House from Wilmington, Delaware. Image: White House/ZUMA Press Wire Service/Shutterstock
By: FEDweek StaffYet more provisions affecting federal workplace policies have been added to the general government appropriations bill and the defense authorization bill as they have advanced in Congress, although none so far on blocking a future excepted service Schedule F, which is a high priority for federal employee organizations and many Democrats in Congress.
They are seeking to put into law a ban against converting competitive service jobs involved with policy matters into the excepted service, where they would lose most civil service protections and positions could be filled without competition.
Such a ban would go beyond rules to that same end recently finalized by OPM — which could in turn be revoked by a future administration through a new rule-making.
The most likely vehicle for such a move is the Senate version of the DoD bill, but a summary of that measure makes no mention of Schedule F; a fuller report on the contents of that bill is yet to come. An amendment may be offered when the full Senate votes on its bill to put a ban into law, though.
Republicans earlier blocked a proposed Democratic amendment to add a ban to the House version of the defense bill during floor voting there.
Health Benefits
Republicans also blocked consideration of an amendment offered by Democrats to expand coverage of assisted reproductive technologies, including in vitro fertilization, in the FEHB program. Republicans in the Senate meanwhile stopped a more comprehensive IVF bill there that would have included the FEHB in its terms. Also, in approving the general government spending bill, the House Appropriations Committee defeated a similar provision offered by Democrats.
The Republican majority voted instead in favor of GOP substitute language to require OPM to “submit a report on the coverage options currently available to federal employees that include assisted reproductive technology services and procedures.” Democrats denounced that as a stalling maneuver.
Diversity Initiatives
The committee also defeated a bid by Democrats to remove from that bill language preventing enforcement of Biden administration DEI initiatives, including those directly involving the federal workforce.
A similar provision, although applying only to DoD, was added to the House authorization bill during floor voting. It further would abolish the position of chief diversity officer, ban its return, and freeze employment in DEI-related positions. Meanwhile, bills have been offered (S-4516 and HR-8706) to put a ban against such programs into law.
The House approved the defense bill largely along party lines. It traditionally has been strongly bipartisan but Democrats objected to policy riders from Republican colleagues including the DEI program ban.
However the House did reject a GOP-sponsored bid to require the department to produce a detailed report on use in the department of official time. Twenty-three Republicans joined all Democrats in voting against it, though none of them spoke on it during a brief debate.
The House Oversight and Accountability Committee leadership recently asked for similar data from all Cabinet departments and major independent agencies of that time, which is on-the-clock time in which employees can perform certain union-related activities. Federal unions see the moves—which is set on a contract-by-contract basis—as a first step toward reducing or eliminating it.
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See also,
How Do Age and Years of Service Impact My Federal Retirement
The Best Ages for Federal Employees to Retire
