Opposition from White House Coming

By: fedweek

The White House has threatened to veto the DHS bill, should it clear the Senate and a later conference with the personnel repeal provision intact. In a policy statement, the administration said that DHS needs flexibility in its personnel practices in order to carry out its mission and that repealing the special authority “would also have the effect of infringing on the President’s authority to address national security concerns by eliminating a waiver related to bargaining unit exclusions for national security purposes.” The administration has not yet put out a policy statement on the DoD bill, but it likely will strongly oppose changing the personnel law there as well. The DHS bill passed the House by more than a wide enough margin to override a veto, while the DoD bill passed the committee unanimously.