Views Dimmer on Senate Bill

The DoD analysis further said the Senate version “gives DoD much less flexibility than does either the Homeland law [last year’s law creating the Homeland Security Department] or the House-passed version. It takes away more opportunity to change existing personnel law. It adds more criteria. It complicates the process.” Among the complications cited are several main provisions of the Senate version that make that version more palatable to employee organizations: a requirement that the new personnel system be phased in over three years rather than effective immediately agency-wide; and allowing employees to appeal to the Merit Systems Protection Board decisions of the planned internal agency process for handling employee personnel appeals.