Proposal Sparks Controversy

Federal unions and some House Democrats active in civil service issues say they will oppose the personnel proposal for Homeland Security, with the American Federation of Government Employees saying the proposal amounts to an “attempt to destroy basic civil service standards” for employees who would be moved into the new department. The personnel proposal is largely modeled after the broad powers given to TSA when it was authorized last year; while TSA has given its employees standard federal benefits, they have only weakened whistleblower protection and it still hasn’t been decided if they will be able to unionize. One major exception to the TSA model is that while the TSA undersecretary has sole authority over many personnel rules, OPM would play a co-equal role in setting policies at Homeland Security. While OPM’s role could add a moderating influence, the personnel policies would be set by regulation rather than by law and thus the policies could be more easily changed.