# 119-hr-435: Direct Hire To Fight Fires

119-hr-435, Direct Hire To Fight Fires, is a 119th Congress bill sponsored by Rep. Issa, Darrell [R-CA-48] (R-CA); status in_committee; PRIA reads it as touching household money (as of 2026-11-01).

- Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-435
- As of: 2026-11-01
- Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts.

## Facts
- Bill: 119-hr-435
- Congress: 119
- Title: Direct Hire To Fight Fires
- Status: in_committee
- Introduced: 2025-01-15
- Sponsor: Rep. Issa, Darrell [R-CA-48] (R-CA)
- Cosponsors: 2
- Policy area: Government Operations and Politics
- Touches household money: yes
- Last recorded action: 2026-11-01

## Summary

**This bill would create a new _direct-hire authority_ to speed hiring of wildland firefighters and key firefighting support staff, and it would require hiring reforms plus public annual reports to track needs and barriers.** - Wildland firefighters and applicants: The bill would let the Forest Service and the Department of the Interior appoint qualified candidates to covered firefighting and support roles without the usual competitive hiring rules. It cites specific series as examples, such as Forestry Technician (GS-0462) and Aircraft Operation (GS-2181). - Agency hiring managers: The Secretaries of Agriculture and the Interior, working with the Office of Personnel Management, would have 1 year to adopt policies that shorten hiring time, remove redundant steps, make it easier for former agency employees to rejoin, and reduce barriers to transfers. - Congress and the public: Agencies would submit annual reports starting one year after enactment and due each Feb 1 showing projected staffing needs, planned hiring events, vacancies by state, hiring barriers, use of the direct-hire authority, and recommendations. Those reports must be posted on a public website.

## Cosponsors (2)

- Rep. Kiley, Kevin [I-CA-3] (I-CA), 2025-01-15T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Obernolte, Jay [R-CA-23] (R-CA), 2025-01-15T00:00:00.000Z

## Provisions PRIA read

- Faster federal hiring for firefighters: benefit, low. If enacted, the bill would let the Secretary of Agriculture and the Secretary of the Interior directly hire qualified wildland firefighters and firefighting support staff without the usual competitive hiring steps. It would apply to Forest Service and Interior positions in the listed job series, fo…

## Related bills

- 119-hr-9237: Take Care of America’s Veterans Act
- 119-hr-471: Fix Our Forests Act
- 119-hr-2709: Save Our Sequoias Act
- 119-hr-3304: Providing Child Care for Police Officers Act of 2025
- 119-hr-842: Nancy Gardner Sewell Medicare Multi-Cancer Early Detection Screening Coverage Act
- 119-hr-179: Proven Forest Management Act of 2025

## Sources
- [119-hr-435 on Congress.gov](https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/435)

## Related
- [119-hr-9237: Take Care of America’s Veterans Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-9237)
- [119-hr-471: Fix Our Forests Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-471)
- [119-hr-2709: Save Our Sequoias Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-2709)
- [119-hr-3304: Providing Child Care for Police Officers Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-3304)
- [119-hr-842: Nancy Gardner Sewell Medicare Multi-Cancer Early Detection Screening Coverage A…](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-842)
- [119-hr-179: Proven Forest Management Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-179)
- [All bills in Congress](https://policyrisk.com/legislation)

Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-435 (as of 2026-11-01).