Rest of Government Could Follow

Meanwhile, the Bush administration wants to allow other agencies to revise their own personnel systems based on the DHS model. Office of Management and Budget officials said in a news briefing that the administration will proposed legislative language that effectively would shortcut the sometimes laborious process through which many agencies have gotten various exemptions from personnel rules. Administration officials have touted the DHS system as a possible model for similar reforms elsewhere, although federal unions and some in Congress believe that at the least, the system should be given several years of operation before any conclusions can be drawn about it. Congressional hearings are likely soon on the DHS rules, the idea of applying them elsewhere, and a separate set of rules—which will only be proposed—from the Defense Department that are expected at any time.