§2517 Authority for Certain Personnel

Summary

The Commandant can hire qualified people for certain Coast Guard jobs without using some normal federal hiring rules. This can happen only if the Commandant finds there is a shortage of qualified applicants or a critical hiring need. The special hiring authority covers medical and health workers, childcare staff, housing-office supervisors for Coast Guard housing, nonclinical prevention specialists (for things like suicide, sexual assault, harassment, domestic abuse, and child abuse), Coast Guard Investigative Service special agents, and certain Coast Guard Academy civilian faculty and staff who work on cadet health or well‑being. Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of the Coast Guard Authorization Act of 2025, and annually thereafter for the following 5 years, the Commandant must give a written briefing to the Senate Committees on Commerce, Science, and Transportation and on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs and to the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure. Each briefing must say how many people were hired under this authority, the jobs and grades, why the hires were needed, how many left the Coast Guard, and what steps were taken to work with the Office of Personnel Management under subpart B of part 337 of title 5, Code of Federal Regulations. The hiring authority ends on September 30, 2030.