II 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4374 

To establish a Government-wide initiative to promote diversity and inclusion 

in the Federal workforce, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 30, 2020 

Mr. MENENDEZ (for himself, Mrs. FEINSTEIN, and Mr. SANDERS) introduced 

the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee 

on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs 

A BILL 

To establish a Government-wide initiative to promote diversity and inclusion in the Federal workforce, and for 

other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Federal Jobs Act’’. 

5 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

6 In this Act: 

7 (1) AGENCY.—The term ‘‘agency’’— 


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1 (A) has the meaning given the term ‘‘Exec2 utive agency’’ in section 105 of title 5, United 

3 States Code; and 

4 (B) includes the United States Postal 

5 Service and the Postal Regulatory Commission. 

6 (2) AGENCY PLAN.—The term ‘‘agency plan’’ 

7 means the plan required under section 4(a)(1). 

8 (3) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT9 TEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com10 mittees’’ means— 

11 (A) the Committee on Appropriations of 

12 the Senate; 

13 (B) the Committee on Appropriations of 

14 the House of Representatives; 

15 (C) the Committee on Finance of the Sen16 ate; and 

17 (D) the Committee on Ways and Means of 

18 the House of Representatives. 

19 (4) DEPUTY DIRECTOR.—The term ‘‘Deputy 

20 Director’’ means the Deputy Director of Manage21 ment of the Office of Management and Budget. 

22 (5) DIRECTOR.—The term ‘‘Director’’ means 

23 the Director of the Office of Personnel Management. 

24 (6) DIVERSITY.—The term ‘‘diversity’’ includes 

25 characteristics such as national origin, language, 


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1 race, color, disability, ethnicity, gender, age, religion, 

2 sexual orientation, gender identity, socioeconomic 

3 status, veteran status, and family structure. 

4 (7) DIVERSITY PLAN.—The term ‘‘diversity 

5 plan’’ means the plan required under section 

6 3(a)(2). 

7 (8) ECONOMICALLY AND SOCIALLY DISADVAN8 TAGED BUSINESS.—The term ‘‘economically and so9 cially disadvantaged business’’ has the meaning 

10 given the term ‘‘socially and economically disadvan11 taged small business concern’’ in section 8(a)(4)(A) 

12 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 637(a)(4)(A)). 

13 (9) EMPLOYMENT PRACTICES.—The term ‘‘em14 ployment practices’’ means policies and practices of 

15 an agency concerning— 

16 (A) the recruitment, hiring, promotion, 

17 and retention of employees; and 

18 (B) professional development and training 

19 for employees. 

20 (10) HUMAN CAPITAL OPERATING PLAN.—The 

21 term ‘‘human capital operating plan’’ means the 

22 plan required under section 250.205 of title 5, Code 

23 of Federal Regulations. 


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1 (11) PRIME CONTRACTOR.—The term ‘‘prime 

2 contractor’’ has the meaning given the term in sec3 tion 8701 of title 41, United States Code. 

4 (12) SUBCONTRACTOR.—The term ‘‘subcon5 tractor’’ has the meaning given the term in section 

6 8701 of title 41, United States Code. 

7 SEC. 3. EXECUTIVE BRANCH DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION 

8 INITIATIVE AND STRATEGIC PLAN. 

9 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Director, in coordination with 

10 the Deputy Director, the President’s Management Coun11 cil, and the Chair of the Equal Employment Opportunity 

12 Commission, shall— 

13 (1) establish a coordinated initiative to promote 

14 diversity and inclusion in the workforce of agencies; 

15 (2) not later than 90 days after the date of en16 actment of this Act, develop and issue a strategic 

17 plan relating to diversity and inclusion for agencies 

18 that— 

19 (A) focuses on— 

20 (i) workforce diversity; 

21 (ii) workplace inclusion; and 

22 (iii) agency accountability and leader23 ship; and 

24 (B) highlights comprehensive strategies for 

25 agencies to identify and remove barriers to 


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1 equal employment opportunity in employment 

2 practices; 

3 (3) not less frequently than once every 4 years 

4 beginning after the date on which the diversity plan 

5 is issued under paragraph (2), update the diversity 

6 plan; 

7 (4) not later than 90 days after the date of en8 actment of this Act— 

9 (A) review any agency directives relating to 

10 the development or submission of— 

11 (i) the human capital operating plan; 

12 and 

13 (ii) other workforce plans and reports 

14 relating to employment practices; 

15 (B) develop a strategy for consolidating 

16 the plans and reports described in subpara17 graph (A), if the consolidation is appropriate 

18 and permitted by law; and 

19 (C) provide guidance to agencies for devel20 oping agency plans; 

21 (5) identify appropriate practices to improve 

22 the effectiveness of the efforts of each agency to for23 mulate employment practices that are consistent 

24 with merit system principles; and 


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1 (6) establish a system for regular reporting on 

2 the progress of agencies in implementing the agency 

3 plans of the agencies. 

4 (b) RECRUITMENT.—The coordinated initiative es5 tablished under subsection (a)(1) shall— 

6 (1) include a plan to recruit qualified individ7 uals for employment at agencies; and 

8 (2) endeavor to— 

9 (A) achieve a workforce from all segments 

10 of society; and 

11 (B) avoid discrimination for or against any 

12 employee or applicant on the basis of race, 

13 color, religion, sex (including pregnancy or gen14 der identity), national origin, age, disability, 

15 sexual orientation, veteran status, or any other 

16 prohibited basis. 

17 SEC. 4. RESPONSIBILITIES OF AGENCIES. 

18 (a) AGENCY REPORT.— 

19 (1) IN GENERAL.—The head of each agency 

20 shall— 

21 (A) not later than 120 days after the date 

22 on which the diversity plan is issued under sec23 tion 3(a)(2) or updated under section 3(a)(3), 

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1 ate employment practices that maintain a di2 verse workforce, consistent with— 

3 (i) merit system principles; 

4 (ii) the overall strategic plan of the 

5 agency; 

6 (iii) the human capital operating plan 

7 of the agency; and 

8 (iv) any other applicable workforce 

9 planning strategies and initiatives; 

10 (B) designate the Chief Human Capital 

11 Officer, the Director of Equal Employment Op12 portunity, and the Chief Diversity Officer of the 

13 agency, if applicable, to— 

14 (i) be responsible for enhancing em15 ployment and promotion opportunities 

16 within the agency; and 

17 (ii) develop and implement the agency 

18 plan; and 

19 (C) incorporate the agency plan into the 

20 human capital operating plan of the agency. 

21 (2) REVIEW.—The head of each agency shall 

22 submit the agency plan of the agency to the Director 

23 and the Deputy Director for review. 

24 (b) ANNUAL UPDATES.—Not later than 90 days after 

25 the date of enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter, 


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1 the head of each agency, in consultation with the Director 

2 and the Deputy Director, shall publish a report on the 

3 public website of the agency that includes— 

4 (1) disaggregated demographic data sorted by 

5 race, color, national origin, religion, sex, age, veteran 

6 status, and disability relating to the workforce of the 

7 agency; 

8 (2) information on the status of diversity and 

9 inclusion efforts of the agency; 

10 (3) an analysis of available data relating to the 

11 number of applications for employment received by 

12 the agency sorted by the race, color, national origin, 

13 religion, sex, age, veteran status, and disability of 

14 the applicant; 

15 (4) disaggregated demographic data relating to 

16 each participating employee in professional develop17 ment programs offered or sponsored by the agency; 

18 (5) the rate of the placement of each partici19 pating employee described in paragraph (4) into sen20 ior positions in the agency; 

21 (6) data relating to the employment of tradi22 tionally underrepresented groups at the agency; 

23 (7) the information reported under the system 

24 established under section 3(a)(6); and 


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1 (8) disaggregated salary data sorted by race, 

2 color, national origin, religion, sex, age, veteran sta3 tus, and disability relating to the workforce of the 

4 agency. 

5 (c) RETENTION AND EXIT INTERVIEWS OR SUR6 VEYS.— 

7 (1) DEPARTING EMPLOYEES.— 

8 (A) IN GENERAL.—The head of each agen9 cy shall provide each employee who leaves em10 ployment at the agency an opportunity to com11 plete an exit interview or survey. 

12 (B) PURPOSE.—The head of each agency 

13 shall design the exit interview or survey de14 scribed in subparagraph (A) to help the agency 

15 understand the reasoning for which an em16 ployee leaves employment at the agency. 

17 (2) USE OF ANALYSIS FROM INTERVIEWS AND

18 SURVEYS.—The head of each agency shall analyze 

19 the demographic data and other information ob20 tained through the interviews or surveys described in 

21 paragraph (1) to determine— 

22 (A) if and how the diversity of participants 

23 in the interviews or surveys impacts the results 

24 of the interviews or surveys; and 


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1 (B) whether to implement any policy 

2 changes. 

3 (3) TRACKING DATA.—The head of each agency 

4 shall— 

5 (A) track demographic data relating to— 

6 (i) each participating employee in pro7 fessional development programs offered or 

8 sponsored by the agency; and 

9 (ii) the rate of the placement of each 

10 participating employee described in clause 

11 (i) into senior positions in the agency; 

12 (B) annually evaluate the data described in 

13 subparagraph (A)— 

14 (i) to identify ways to improve out15 reach and recruitment for professional de16 velopment programs offered or sponsored 

17 by the agency, consistent with merit sys18 tem principles; and 

19 (ii) to understand how participation in 

20 any professional development program of21 fered or sponsored by the agency under 

22 subparagraph (A) differs among the demo23 graphic categories of the workforce of the 

24 agency; and 


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1 (C) actively encourage participation in pro2 fessional development programs offered and 

3 sponsored by the agency from a range of demo4 graphic categories of the workforce of the agen5 cy, especially from demographic categories with 

6 consistently low participation. 

7 SEC. 5. LEGISLATIVE AND JUDICIAL BRANCHES. 

8 (a) LEGISLATIVE BRANCH.—Each office treated as 

9 an employing office under the Congressional Account10 ability Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1301 et seq.) shall, to the 

11 greatest extent practicable, carry out the requirements of 

12 sections 3 and 4 with respect to the legislative branch of 

13 Government. 

14 (b) JUDICIAL BRANCH.—The Director of the Admin15 istrative Office of the United States Courts shall, to the 

16 greatest extent practicable, carry out the requirements of 

17 sections 3 and 4 with respect to the judicial branch of 

18 Government. 

19 SEC. 6. DIVERSITY IN GOVERNMENT PROCUREMENT AND 

20 GRANTMAKING. 

21 (a) REPORTS ON CONTRACTING.— 

22 (1) PRIME CONTRACTOR REPORTS.—Not later 

23 than 120 days after the date of enactment of this 

24 Act, and annually thereafter, each prime contractor 

25 that has a contract with an agency shall submit to 


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1 the head of each agency with which the prime con2 tractor has a contract a report that includes— 

3 (A) a list of subcontractors— 

4 (i) with which the prime contractor 

5 has a contract relating to the contract of 

6 the prime contractor with the agency; and 

7 (ii) that are economically and socially 

8 disadvantaged businesses; and 

9 (B) the amounts the subcontractors de10 scribed in paragraph (1) receive from the prime 

11 contractor. 

12 (2) AGENCY REPORTS.—Not later than 1 year 

13 after the date of enactment of this Act, and annually 

14 thereafter, the head of each agency shall submit to 

15 the appropriate congressional committees a report 

16 that includes— 

17 (A) a list of prime contractors— 

18 (i) with which the agency has a con19 tract; and 

20 (ii) that are economically and socially 

21 disadvantaged businesses; 

22 (B) the amounts the prime contractors de23 scribed in subparagraph (A) receive from the 

24 agency; and 


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1 (C) the information contained in the prime 

2 contractor reports received by the head of the 

3 agency under paragraph (1). 

4 (b) ANNUAL REPORTS.— 

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after 

6 the date of enactment of this Act, and annually 

7 thereafter, the head of each agency shall submit to 

8 the appropriate congressional committees a com9 prehensive report on activities the agency is imple10 menting to increase procurement from, and grant 

11 making to, economically and socially disadvantaged 

12 businesses. 

13 (2) CONTENT.—The report required under 

14 paragraph (1) shall include a description of the ef15 forts of the agency to— 

16 (A) list, describe, and evaluate the activi17 ties the agency is implementing to increase the 

18 capacity of minority-led small nongovernmental 

19 organizations and civil society organizations 

20 to— 

21 (i) win bids; 

22 (ii) obtain contracts and grants; and 

23 (iii) serve as subcontractors; and 

24 (B) review any impact the restrictions 

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1 lation have had on economically and socially 

2 disadvantaged businesses. 

Æ 


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