§10704 Officers and employees

Summary

The Director must run the Institute’s day-to-day work, follow the Board’s rules, and hire or fire staff as needed. People cannot be hired, promoted, or punished because of their politics, and political tests cannot be used when picking grantees or contractors. The Board sets pay for officers and employees, but no one can be paid more than Level V of the Executive Schedule (5 U.S.C. 5316). The Institute is not treated as a federal department or agency unless another part of the law says so. The Office of Management and Budget may review and comment on the Institute’s annual budget when it goes to Congress. The Institute may buy goods and services from the General Services Administration. Staff are not federal employees for most purposes, but they are treated as federal employees for workers’ compensation (Subchapter I of chapter 81), retirement (chapters 83 and 84), life insurance (chapter 87), and health insurance (chapter 89) under title 5, even if 5 U.S.C. 8914 might say otherwise. The Institute must pay the same contribution rates as other federal agencies. The Institute and its staff must follow the freedom-of-information rules in 5 U.S.C. 552.