Veto Threatened over NSPS Revision

The House has passed and the White House has threatened to veto a DoD authorization bill (HR-1585) that would repeal much of DoD’s national security personnel system. The measure would repeal the department’s authority to restrict union rights and revamp adverse action procedures and employee appeal rights, while requiring that a revised pay system under NSPS be subject to union negotiations. An administration statement said that DoD is phasing in NSPS to assess and adjust it and that DoD “already has made some adjustments based on employee feedback. Flexibility is needed given the department’s role in preparing for and responding to ever-changing national security threats,” it said. The statement also said that the changes would “back away from pay for performance” and that bargaining on the pay system would “so administratively burdensome to design and operate that the effect of the bill is in essence a total revocation of the flexibilities Congress granted the department.”