Office of Personnel Management officials in recent years have grown increasingly vocal in their criticisms of the GS system, which they say was crafted to reflect the needs of the government in very different times. Last year, OPM issued a “white paper” saying the pay system does not reflect market pay levels or encourage and reward achievement and results and precludes agencies from tailoring pay programs to their specific missions and labor markets. That paper, designed to be a starting point for broader discussions on pay reform, was put on the back burner late last year when the attention of civil service leaders focused mostly on issues involving creating the Department of Homeland Security. But the Volcker Commission report could bring that debate to the forefront again, possibly in the context of Senate hearings on proposals to push civil service reform beyond what was enacted last year as part of the DHS measure.