II 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 406 

To establish a Federal rotational cyber workforce program for the Federal 

cyber workforce. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

FEBRUARY 7, 2019 

Mr. PETERS (for himself, Mr. HOEVEN, Ms. HASSAN, and Mr. JOHNSON) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs 

A BILL 

To establish a Federal rotational cyber workforce program 

for the Federal cyber workforce. 

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 Rotational 

5 Cyber Workforce Program Act of 2019’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

7 In this Act: 

8 (1) AGENCY.—The term ‘‘agency’’ has the 

9 meaning given the term ‘‘Executive agency’’ in sec10 tion 105 of title 5, United States Code, except that 


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1 the term does not include the Government Account2 ability Office. 

3 (2) COUNCIL.—The term ‘‘Council’’ means the 

4 Chief Human Capital Officers Council established 

5 under section 1303 of the Homeland Security Act of 

6 2002 (5 U.S.C. 1401 note). 

7 (3) CYBER WORKFORCE POSITION.—The term 

8 ‘‘cyber workforce position’’ means a position identi9 fied as having information technology, cybersecurity, 

10 or other cyber-related functions under section 303 of 

11 the Federal Cybersecurity Workforce Assessment 

12 Act of 2015 (5 U.S.C. 301 note). 

13 (4) DIRECTOR.—The term ‘‘Director’’ means 

14 the Director of the Office of Personnel Management. 

15 (5) EMPLOYEE.—The term ‘‘employee’’ has the 

16 meaning given the term in section 2105 of title 5, 

17 United States Code. 

18 (6) EMPLOYING AGENCY.—The term ‘‘employ19 ing agency’’ means the agency from which an em20 ployee is detailed to a rotational cyber workforce po21 sition. 

22 (7) ROTATIONAL CYBER WORKFORCE POSI23 TION.—The term ‘‘rotational cyber workforce posi24 tion’’ means a cyber workforce position with respect 


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1 to which a determination has been made under sec2 tion 3(a)(1). 

3 (8) ROTATIONAL CYBER WORKFORCE PRO4 GRAM.—The term ‘‘rotational cyber workforce pro5 gram’’ means the program for the detail of employ6 ees among rotational cyber workforce positions at 

7 agencies. 

8 SEC. 3. ROTATIONAL CYBER WORKFORCE POSITIONS. 

9 (a) DETERMINATION WITH RESPECT TO ROTA10 TIONAL SERVICE.— 

11 (1) IN GENERAL.—The head of each agency, in 

12 the sole and exclusive discretion of the head of the 

13 agency, may determine that a cyber workforce posi14 tion in that agency is eligible for the rotational cyber 

15 workforce program. 

16 (2) NOTICE PROVIDED.—The head of an agency 

17 shall submit to the Director— 

18 (A) notice regarding any determination 

19 made by the head of the agency under para20 graph (1); and 

21 (B) for each position with respect to which 

22 the head of the agency makes a determination 

23 under paragraph (1), the information required 

24 under subsection (b)(1). 


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1 (b) PREPARATION OF LIST.—The Director, with as2 sistance from the Council and the Secretary of Homeland 

3 Security, shall develop a list of rotational cyber workforce 

4 positions that— 

5 (1) with respect to each such position, to the 

6 extent that the information does not disclose sen7 sitive national security information, includes— 

8 (A) the title of the position; 

9 (B) the occupational series with respect to 

10 the position; 

11 (C) the grade level with respect to the po12 sition; 

13 (D) the agency in which the position is lo14 cated; 

15 (E) the duty location with respect to the 

16 position; and 

17 (F) the major duties and functions of the 

18 position; and 

19 (2) shall be used to support the rotational cyber 

20 workforce program. 

21 (c) DISTRIBUTION OF LIST.—Not less frequently 

22 than annually, the Director shall distribute an updated list 

23 developed under subsection (b) to the head of each agency 

24 and other appropriate entities. 


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1 SEC. 4. ROTATIONAL CYBER WORKFORCE PROGRAM. 

2 (a) OPERATION PLAN.— 

3 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 270 days 

4 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Director, 

5 in consultation with the Council, the Chief Informa6 tion Officer of the Department of Homeland Secu7 rity, representatives of other agencies, and any other 

8 entity as the Director determines appropriate, shall 

9 develop and issue a Federal Rotational Cyber Work10 force Program operation plan providing policies, 

11 processes, and procedures for a program for the de12 tailing of employees among rotational cyber work13 force positions at agencies. 

14 (2) UPDATING.—The Director may, in consulta15 tion with the Council and other entities as the Direc16 tor determines appropriate, periodically update the 

17 operation plan developed and issued under para18 graph (1). 

19 (b) REQUIREMENTS.—The operation plan developed 

20 and issued under subsection (a) shall, at a minimum— 

21 (1) identify agencies for participation in the ro22 tational cyber workforce program; 

23 (2) establish procedures for the rotational cyber 

24 workforce program, including— 

25 (A) any training, education, or career de26 velopment requirements associated with particiVerDate Sep 11 2014 18:46 Feb 19, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S406.IS S406

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1 pation in the rotational cyber workforce pro2 gram; 

3 (B) any prerequisites or requirements for 

4 participation in the rotational cyber workforce 

5 program; and 

6 (C) appropriate rotational cyber workforce 

7 program performance measures, reporting re8 quirements, employee exit surveys, and other 

9 accountability devices for the evaluation of the 

10 program; 

11 (3) provide that participation in the rotational 

12 cyber workforce program by an employee shall be 

13 voluntary; 

14 (4) provide that an employee shall be eligible to 

15 participate in the rotational cyber workforce pro16 gram if the head of the employing agency of the em17 ployee, or a designee of the head of the employing 

18 agency of the employee, approves of the participation 

19 of the employee; 

20 (5) provide that the detail of an employee to a 

21 rotational cyber workforce position under the rota22 tional cyber workforce program shall be on a nonre23 imbursable basis; 

24 (6) provide that agencies may agree to partner 

25 to ensure that the employing agency of an employee 


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1 that participates in the rotational cyber workforce 

2 program is able to fill the position vacated by the 

3 employee; 

4 (7) require that an employee detailed to a rota5 tional cyber workforce position under the rotational 

6 cyber workforce program, upon the end of the period 

7 of service with respect to the detail— 

8 (A) shall be entitled to return to the posi9 tion held by the employee, or a corresponding 

10 position, in the employing agency of the em11 ployee; and 

12 (B) shall not be entitled to return to an13 other position in the employing agency of the 

14 employee, including a more senior position, if 

15 the position held by the employee upon accept16 ing the detail remains open; 

17 (8) provide that discretion with respect to the 

18 assignment of an employee under the rotational 

19 cyber workforce program shall remain with the em20 ploying agency of the employee; 

21 (9) require that an employee detailed to a rota22 tional cyber workforce position under the rotational 

23 cyber workforce program in an agency that is not 

24 the employing agency of the employee shall have all 

25 the rights that would be available to the employee if 


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1 the employee were detailed under a provision of law 

2 other than this Act from the employing agency to 

3 the agency in which the rotational cyber workforce 

4 position is located; 

5 (10) provide that participation by an employee 

6 in the rotational cyber workforce program shall not 

7 constitute a change in the conditions of the employ8 ment of the employee; and 

9 (11) provide that an employee participating in 

10 the rotational cyber workforce program shall receive 

11 performance evaluations relating to service in the ro12 tational cyber workforce program in a participating 

13 agency that are— 

14 (A) prepared by an appropriate officer, su15 pervisor, or management official of the employ16 ing agency; 

17 (B) based, acting in coordination with the 

18 supervisor at the agency in which the employee 

19 is performing that service, on objectives identi20 fied in the operation plan with respect to the 

21 employee; and 

22 (C) based in whole or in part on the con23 tribution of the employee to the agency in which 

24 the employee performed such service, as comVerDate Sep 11 2014 18:46 Feb 19, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S406.IS S406

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1 municated from that agency to the employing 

2 agency of the employee. 

3 (c) PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS FOR ROTATIONAL

4 SERVICE.— 

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—An employee serving in a 

6 cyber workforce position in an agency may, with the 

7 approval of the head of the agency, submit an appli8 cation for detail to a rotational cyber workforce posi9 tion that appears on the list developed under section 

10 3(b). 

11 (2) SELECTION AND TERM.— 

12 (A) SELECTION.—The head of an agency 

13 shall select an employee for a rotational cyber 

14 workforce position under the rotational cyber 

15 workforce program in a manner that is con16 sistent with the merit system principles under 

17 section 2301(b) of title 5, United States Code. 

18 (B) TERM.—Except as provided in sub19 paragraph (C), and notwithstanding section 

20 3341(b) of title 5, United States Code, a detail 

21 to a rotational cyber workforce position shall be 

22 for a period of not less than 180 days and not 

23 more than 1 year. 

24 (C) EXTENSION.—The Chief Human Cap25 ital Officer of the agency to which an employee 


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1 is detailed under the rotational cyber workforce 

2 program may extend the period of a detail de3 scribed in subparagraph (B) for a period of 60 

4 days unless the Chief Human Capital Officer of 

5 the employing agency of the employee objects to 

6 that extension. 

7 (3) WRITTEN SERVICE AGREEMENTS.— 

8 (A) IN GENERAL.—The detail of an em9 ployee to a rotational cyber position shall be 

10 contingent upon the employee entering into a 

11 written service agreement with the employing 

12 agency under which the employee is required to 

13 complete a period of employment with the em14 ploying agency following the conclusion of the 

15 detail that is equal in length to the period of 

16 the detail. 

17 (B) CONTINUED SERVICE AGREEMENTS.— 

18 A written service agreement under subpara19 graph (A) shall not supersede or modify the 

20 terms or conditions of any other service agree21 ment entered into by the employee under any 

22 other authority or relieve the obligations be23 tween the employee and the employing agency 

24 under such a service agreement. Nothing in this 

25 subparagraph prevents an employing agency 


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1 from terminating a service agreement entered 

2 into under any other authority under the terms 

3 of such agreement or as required by law or reg4 ulation. 

5 SEC. 5. REPORTING BY GAO. 

6 Not later than the end of the second fiscal year after 

7 the fiscal year in which the operation plan under section 

8 4(a) is issued, the Comptroller General of the United 

9 States shall submit to Congress a report assessing the op10 eration and effectiveness of the rotational cyber workforce 

11 program, which shall address, at a minimum— 

12 (1) the extent to which agencies have partici13 pated in the rotational cyber workforce program, in14 cluding whether the head of each such participating 

15 agency has— 

16 (A) identified positions within the agency 

17 that are rotational cyber workforce positions; 

18 (B) had employees from other partici19 pating agencies serve in positions described in 

20 subparagraph (A); and 

21 (C) had employees of the agency request to 

22 serve in rotational cyber workforce positions 

23 under the rotational cyber workforce program 

24 in participating agencies, including a descripVerDate Sep 11 2014 18:46 Feb 19, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S406.IS S406

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1 tion of how many such requests were approved; 

2 and 

3 (2) the experiences of employees serving in ro4 tational cyber workforce positions under the rota5 tional cyber workforce program, including an assess6 ment of— 

7 (A) the period of service; 

8 (B) the positions (including grade level and 

9 occupational series) held by employees before 

10 completing service in a rotational cyber work11 force position under the rotational cyber work12 force program; 

13 (C) the extent to which each employee who 

14 completed service in a rotational cyber work15 force position under the rotational cyber work16 force program achieved a higher skill level, or 

17 attained a skill level in a different area, with re18 spect to information technology, cybersecurity, 

19 or other cyber-related functions; and 

20 (D) the extent to which service in rota21 tional cyber workforce positions has affected 

22 intra-agency and interagency integration and 

23 coordination of cyber practices, functions, and 

24 personnel management. 


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1 SEC. 6. SUNSET. 

2 Effective 5 years after the date of enactment of this 

3 Act, this Act is repealed. 

Æ 


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