Panel Backs DHS Personnel Fund Cutoff

By: fedweek

The House Appropriations Committee has approved an appropriations bill covering DHS that would deny funding for the alternative personnel system there, formerly called MaxHR but now part of a larger plan called the human capital operational plan. The full House already has passed a DHS authorization bill (HR-1684) that would repeal as a matter of policy the DHS personnel provisions, with opponents saying the changes would go too far in restricting employee rights, including the right to bargain on many personnel policies. The Bush administration threatened to veto that bill, arguing that the department needs the flexibility to respond to homeland security threats quickly, and a veto threat on the appropriations bill could follow.