II 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4812 

To provide the Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of State with 

temporary direct hire authority for certain positions, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

OCTOBER 20 (legislative day, OCTOBER 19), 2020 

Mr. BRAUN introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs 

A BILL 

To provide the Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of 

State with temporary direct hire authority for certain 

positions, 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 ‘‘Hire To Secure our 

5 Nation Act of 2020’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DIRECT HIRE AUTHORITY FOR CERTAIN POSITIONS 

7 IN THE DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE AND THE 

8 DEPARTMENT OF STATE. 

9 (a) DEFINITION.—In this section, the term ‘‘covered 

10 position’’— 


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1 (1) means— 

2 (A) a position requiring expertise with re3 spect to the Islamic Republic of Iran, the Peo4 ple’s Republic of China, or the Russian Federa5 tion; or 

6 (B) a position as a linguist with respect 

7 to— 

8 (i) Farsi (or another language that is 

9 the primary language spoken in a Middle 

10 Eastern country); 

11 (ii) Mandarin, Cantonese, or another 

12 language that is primarily spoken in the 

13 People’s Republic of China; or 

14 (iii) Russian; and 

15 (2) does not include a position in the Foreign 

16 Service. 

17 (b) AUTHORITY.— 

18 (1) DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE.—The Sec19 retary of Defense may use the authority provided 

20 under section 9905 of title 5, United States Code, 

21 to appoint qualified candidates to covered positions 

22 in the competitive service in the Department of De23 fense. 

24 (2) DEPARTMENT OF STATE.—The Secretary of 

25 State may appoint, without regard to the provisions 


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1 of subchapter I of chapter 33 of title 5, United 

2 States Code (other than sections 3303 and 3328 of 

3 that title), qualified candidates to covered positions 

4 in the competitive service in the Department of 

5 State. 

6 (c) CITIZENSHIP REQUIREMENT.—A candidate ap7 pointed to a covered position under subsection (b) shall 

8 be a citizen of the United States. 

9 (d) EXPIRATION; EXTENSIONS.— 

10 (1) EXPIRATION.—Subject to paragraph (2) of 

11 this subsection, the authority provided to the Sec12 retary of Defense and the Secretary of State under 

13 paragraphs (1) and (2) of subsection (b), respec14 tively, shall expire on the date that is 3 years after 

15 the date of enactment of this Act. 

16 (2) EXTENSIONS.— 

17 (A) IN GENERAL.—The authority provided 

18 to the Secretary of Defense or the Secretary of 

19 State under paragraph (1) or (2) of subsection 

20 (b), respectively, shall be extended for an addi21 tional 3-year period that begins on date on 

22 which that authority expires under paragraph 

23 (1) of this subsection if, before that expiration 

24 date, the applicable Secretary submits to Con25 gress a notification describing the ways in 


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1 which the Islamic Republic of Iran, the People’s 

2 Republic of China, and the Russian Federation 

3 continue to threaten the national security of the 

4 United States. 

5 (B) ADDITIONAL EXTENSIONS.—If the 

6 Secretary of Defense or the Secretary of State 

7 has received an extension under subparagraph 

8 (A), the authority of the Secretary under para9 graph (1) or (2) of subsection (b), as applica10 ble, shall be extended for an additional 3-year 

11 period that begins on the date on which the ex12 tension expires if, before the date on which the 

13 extension expires, the Secretary submits to 

14 Congress the notification required under sub15 paragraph (A). 

16 (C) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in 

17 this paragraph may be construed to limit the 

18 number of extensions of authority that the Sec19 retary of Defense or the Secretary of State may 

20 receive under this paragraph. 

21 SEC. 3. NATIONAL SECURITY AND FOREIGN LANGUAGE 

22 PROFESSIONALS FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM. 

23 (a) IN GENERAL.— 

24 (1) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established in 

25 the Department of Defense and the Department of 


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1 State the National Security and Foreign Language 

2 Professionals Fellowship Program (referred to in 

3 this section as the ‘‘Program’’). 

4 (2) ROTATIONS.—Under the Program— 

5 (A) the applicable agency that appoints an 

6 individual to a position under the Program shall 

7 provide the individual with— 

8 (i) developmental or professional expe9 riences relating to the national security of 

10 the United States; and 

11 (ii) training for the position that re12 lates to the national security of the United 

13 States; and 

14 (B) the Secretary of Defense and the Sec15 retary of State (referred to collectively in this 

16 section as the ‘‘Secretaries’’) shall seek to re17 cruit experienced practitioners and academics to 

18 apply for senior-level positions within the appli19 cable agency. 

20 (b) ELIGIBILITY.— 

21 (1) IN GENERAL.—In order to apply for a posi22 tion under the Program, an individual— 

23 (A) shall have— 


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1 (i) a professional or graduate degree 

2 in an area that is relevant to the national 

3 security of the United States; or 

4 (ii) significant professional experience 

5 in a position or a subject area relating to 

6 the national security of the United States; 

7 (B) may be a student in a graduate or pro8 fessional school if the individual expects to ob9 tain the degree described in paragraph (A)(i) 

10 not later than August 31 of the academic year 

11 in which the individual is applying; and 

12 (C) shall have not less than 10 years of 

13 professional experience, which may include time 

14 spent towards obtaining the degree described in 

15 subparagraph (A)(i). 

16 (2) PREFERENCE.—In making appointments 

17 under the Program, the applicable Secretary shall 

18 give preference to— 

19 (A) individuals with language proficiency 

20 that the Secretary of Defense determines is 

21 critical to the national security of the United 

22 States; and 

23 (B) cyber security professionals. 


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1 (c) ANNOUNCEMENT; SELECTION OF FINALISTS.— 

2 The Director of the Office of Personnel Management 

3 shall— 

4 (1) announce the opportunity to apply for a po5 sition under the Program; 

6 (2) select finalists for the Program; and 

7 (3) publish, and provide to the Secretaries, a 

8 list of the finalists selected under paragraph (2) for 

9 consideration by the Secretaries with respect to ap10 pointments under the Program. 

11 (d) LENGTH OF APPOINTMENT.—An appointment 

12 made under the Program shall be for a period that is not 

13 less than 2 years and not more than 4 years. 

14 (e) MOVEMENT BETWEEN AGENCIES.— 

15 (1) IN GENERAL.—At any time during an ap16 pointment of an individual under the Program, the 

17 individual may move to the other agency partici18 pating in the Program if— 

19 (A) the individual separates from the origi20 nal agency; and 

21 (B) the new employing agency appoints the 

22 individual without a break in service. 

23 (2) REIMBURSEMENT.—If a move described in 

24 paragraph (1) occurs during the 180-day period be25 ginning on the date on which an individual is apVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:14 Oct 28, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4812.IS S4812

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1 pointed by the original employing agency, the origi2 nal employing agency may request reimbursement of 

1 3 ⁄4 of the placement fee with respect to the indi4 vidual from the new appointing agency. 

5 (f) TERMINATION.—The head of the applicable agen6 cy may terminate an individual serving in an appointment 

7 under the Program— 

8 (1) for reasons relating to misconduct, poor 

9 performance, or suitability; and 

10 (2) if the agency head submits to the Director 

11 of the Office of Personnel Management written noti12 fication regarding the termination. 

13 (g) CONVERSION TO THE COMPETITIVE SERVICE.— 

14 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not earlier than 2 years 

15 after the date on which an individual is appointed 

16 under the Program, the applicable agency may non17 competitively convert the individual, without a break 

18 in service, to a position in the competitive service. 

19 (2) NUMBER OF POSITIONS AVAILABLE.—The 

20 Chief Human Capital Officers Council, in consulta21 tion with the Secretary of Defense and the Secretary 

22 of State, shall determine the number of individuals 

23 who may be converted under paragraph (1). 

24 (3) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this 

25 subsection may be construed as granting any indiVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:14 Oct 28, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4812.IS S4812

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1 vidual appointed under the Program a right to a 

2 noncompetitive conversion to a position in the com3 petitive service. 

4 (h) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sec5 tion may be construed to replace— 

6 (1) the Presidential Management Fellows Pro7 gram established under subpart D of part 362 of 

8 title 5, Code of Federal Regulations, or any suc9 cessor regulation; or 

10 (2) any provision of title 5, United States Code, 

11 regarding appointive positions in the civil service. 

Æ 


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