§1762 Demonstration Project Relating to Certain Acquisition Personnel Management Policies and Procedures

Summary

The Secretary of Defense can run a test project to try new personnel rules for the Department of Defense acquisition workforce and the people who work directly with them. The project mostly follows the civil-service demo project rules in title 5, but three timing rules are shortened (180 days → 120 days; 90 days → 30 days; and one specific subsection is ignored). Those shorter rules only apply if each participating team has at least one-third acquisition workers and at least two-thirds acquisition workers plus supporting personnel, and the project started before October 1, 2007. The Secretary will use the Office of Personnel Management’s authorities for the project. No more than 130,000 people can take part at once. If a team later stops meeting the makeup rules because of a reorganization or similar change, it can keep participating. An independent group must do two written reviews of the project. Each review must describe who was in the project and cover key topics such as hiring flexibilities (and veterans’ preference), performance reviews and fairness, ongoing feedback, effects on careers and mission needs, diversity and promotion protections, training, employee input, and any barriers to using the new rules. The first review was due by September 30, 2012, and the second by September 30, 2016; the Secretary must send each review to the Armed Services Committees of the Senate and House, the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, and the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform within 30 days of receiving it. The authority to run the project ends on December 31, 2031, and within 6 months after that, project employees must move to the civilian personnel system under 5 U.S.C. 9902.