U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE

WASHINGTON : 

1 

49–010

" ! SENATE 

114TH CONGRESS

1st Session 

REPORT

2015

114–143 

Calendar No. 228 

COMPETITIVE SERVICE ACT OF 2015 

R E P O R T 

OF THE

COMMITTEE ON HOMELAND SECURITY AND 

GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS 

UNITED STATES SENATE 

TO ACCOMPANY

S. 1580 

TO ALLOW ADDITIONAL APPOINTING AUTHORITIES TO SELECT 

INDIVIDUALS FROM COMPETITIVE SERVICE CERTIFICATES 

SEPTEMBER 15, 2015.—Ordered to be printed 


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(II) 

COMMITTEE ON HOMELAND SECURITY AND GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS 

RON JOHNSON, Wisconsin, Chairman 

JOHN MCCAIN, Arizona 

ROB PORTMAN, Ohio 

RAND PAUL, Kentucky 

JAMES LANKFORD, Oklahoma 

MICHAEL B. ENZI, Wyoming 

KELLY AYOTTE, New Hampshire 

JONI ERNST, Iowa 

BEN SASSE, Nebraska 

THOMAS R. CARPER, Delaware 

CLAIRE MCCASKILL, Missouri 

JON TESTER, Montana 

TAMMY BALDWIN, Wisconsin 

HEIDI HEITKAMP, North Dakota 

CORY A. BOOKER, New Jersey 

GARY C. PETERS, Michigan 

KEITH B. ASHDOWN, Staff Director 

CHRISTOPHER R. HIXON, Chief Counsel 

PATRICK J. BAILEY, Chief Counsel for Governmental Affairs 

GABRIELLE D’ADAMO SINGER, Deputy Chief Counsel for Governmental Affairs 

GABRIELLE A. BATKIN, Minority Staff Director 

JOHN P. KILVINGTON, Minority Deputy Staff Director 

MARY BETH SCHULTZ, Minority Chief Counsel 

KATHERINE C. SYBENGA, Minority Senior Counsel 

LAURA W. KILBRIDE, Chief Clerk 


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Calendar No. 228 

114TH CONGRESS SENATE REPORT " ! 1st Session 114–143 

COMPETITIVE SERVICE ACT OF 2015 

SEPTEMBER 15, 2015.—Ordered to be printed 

Mr. JOHNSON, from the Committee on Homeland Security and 

Governmental Affairs, submitted the following 

R E P O R T 

[To accompany S. 1580] 

The Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, 

to which was referred the bill (S. 1580), to allow additional appointing authorities to select individuals from competitive service certificates, having considered the same, reports favorably thereon without amendment and recommends that the bill do pass. 

CONTENTS 

Page 

I. Purpose and Summary .................................................................................. 1 

II. Background and Need for the Legislation ................................................... 1 

III. Legislative History ......................................................................................... 3 

IV. Section-by-Section Analysis .......................................................................... 3 

V. Evaluation of Regulatory Impact .................................................................. 4 

VI. Congressional Budget Office Cost Estimate ................................................ 4 

VII. Changes in Existing Law Made by the Bill, as Reported ........................... 5 

I. PURPOSE AND SUMMARY

The purpose of S. 1580, the Competitive Service Act of 2015, is 

to allow federal agencies to share their vetted lists of best-qualified 

candidates with other agencies who are looking to hire for a similar 

position. Allowing agencies to share these lists and use them to 

hire for similar positions will help reduce the duplicative work that 

agencies are forced to undertake by making a new job announcement and starting the hiring process from scratch. 

II. BACKGROUND AND THE NEED FOR LEGISLATION

At the start of the 114th Congress, Chairman Ron Johnson and 

Ranking Member Tom Carper announced a mission statement for 

the Committee to ‘‘identify/reduce/eliminate duplication . . . within 


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1Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee (HSGAC) Mission, Vision, 

Values & Priorities, copy on file with Committee Staff. 2 A More Efficient and Effective Government: Cultivating the Federal Workforce: Hearing before 

the S. Comm. on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, Sub. Comm. on the Efficiency 

and Effectiveness of Federal Programs and the Federal Workforce, 113th Cong. (2014). 3Written testimony of Max Stier, President and CEO Partnership for Public Service, id. at 

7. 

government’’ and ‘‘[i]dentify opportunities to modernize and increase the efficiency and effectiveness of federal agencies.’’ 1

S. 1580 addresses one such inefficiency in the federal hiring process. Under current law, agencies operate as separate and distinct 

entities, including with regard to agency hiring. For example, if an 

agency is hiring for a vacancy, it must issue a job vacancy announcement and follow the hiring process requirements set out in 

Chapter 33 of title 5, United States Code. These requirements include creating a certified list of the most qualified candidates from 

which the agency selects the person it will hire. 

If, shortly after the agency has hired an individual from the certified list of eligibles, another agency is also hiring for a similar position, the second agency may not use the certificate of eligibles 

created for the first agency by OPM. This is true despite the fact 

that there may be numerous qualified individuals that were not 

chosen by the first hiring agency, and thus are still available. Because agencies hiring for similar positions may not share their assessments of applicants with each other, the result is duplicative 

work, as other hiring agencies must start the application process 

from scratch. 

On May 6, 2014, the Senate Committee on Homeland Security 

and Governmental Affairs Subcommittee on the Efficiency and Effectiveness of Federal Programs and the Federal Workforce held a 

hearing entitled ‘‘A More Efficient and Effective Government: Cultivating the Federal Workforce.’’ 2 Partnership for Public Service 

President and Chief Executive Officer Max Stier testified about the 

need for federal agencies to be authorized to share their lists of 

best qualified candidates with each other, which he referred to as 

a ‘‘common-sense, cost-effective reform to help agencies find top talent, particularly for hard-to-fill positions.’’ 3

S. 1580 would streamline the hiring process for federal agencies 

by allowing agencies to share their certified list of eligibles, in 

other words, their list of best qualified applicants who have already 

undergone a competitive service assessment process by the agency 

for a similar position. Under S. 1580, the agency can hire an individual from the other agency’s certified list of eligibles if they meet 

the following requirements: the original job vacancy announcement 

that resulted in the list of certified eligibles provided notice that 

the list could be used by another agency; the vacancy is within 240- 

days of the issuance of the list of certified eligibles; the position is 

in the same occupational series and at a similar grade as the position for which the certification of eligibles was issued; and the 

agency provides notice of the available position to its employees, 

provides up to ten business days for its employees to apply, and 

considers those applications. If those requirements are met, the 

other appointing authority need not make any additional posting, 

and may simply hire an individual from the list of certified eligibles. 


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4Letter from John Berry, Director of the Office of Personnel and Management to Nancy 

Pelosi, Speaker of the House of Representatives (2010), copy on file with Committee Staff. 5 Id. at 1. 

The proposal is also supported by OPM. In 2010, then-OPM Director John Berry sent a letter to then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi 

outlining proposed hiring reforms, including the authority for agencies to share their lists of best qualified talent with one another 

and hire from that list, without having to post a new job announcement and start from scratch.4 Director Berry estimated that this 

change could result in a reduction of 30–90 days’ worth of duplicative work performed by agencies that are hiring for similar positions.5

III. LEGISLATIVE HISTORY

Senator Jon Tester (D–MT) introduced S. 1580 on June 16, 2015, 

with Senators Rob Portman (R–OH), Benjamin L. Cardin (D–MD), 

Jerry Moran (R–KS), and Heidi Heitkamp (D–ND) as original cosponsors. Senators Michael B. Enzi (R–WY) and Ron Johnson (R– 

WI) joined as cosponsors on June 17, 2015, and June 25, 2015, respectively. The bill was referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs. 

Rep. Gerald E. Connolly (D–VA–11) introduced a companion to 

S. 1580, H.R. 2827, on June 18, 2015, with Rep. Robert J. Wittman 

(R–VA–1) as an original cosponsor. H.R. 2827 was referred to the 

House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. 

The Committee considered S. 1580 at a business meeting on 

June 24, 2015, and ordered the bill reported favorably en bloc by 

voice vote. Senators present for the vote on the bill were Johnson, 

McCain, Lankford, Ayotte, Ernst, Sasse, Carper, Tester, Baldwin, 

and Heitkamp. 

IV. SECTION-BY-SECTION ANALYSIS OF THE BILL, AS REPORTED

Section 1. Short title 

Section 1 designates the short title of the bill as the ‘‘Competitive 

Service Act of 2015.’’ 

Section 2. Additional appointing authorities for competitive service 

Section 2 of the bill amends Section 3318 and 3319 of title 5, 

United States Code, to provide additional appointing authorities for 

agencies selecting individuals for competitive service positions. 

First, this section amends Section 3318 to allow an appointing 

authority other than the appointing authority requesting a certificate of eligibles (the ‘‘other appointing authority’’) to select an individual from that certificate within 240 days of issuance of the certificate provided that: the position within the other appointing authority is in the same occupational series as the position for which 

the certification of eligibles was issued and at a similar grade level; 

the announcement of the original position provided notice that the 

resulting list of eligible candidates could be used by another appointing authority; and the other appointing authority provides notice of the available position to its employees, up to ten business 

days for its employees to apply, and considers those applications. 

If those requirements are met, the other appointing authority need 

not make any additional posting under Section 3327. 


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Second, this section amends Section 3319 to provide that an appointing authority requesting a certificate of eligible may share the 

certificate with another appointing authority, provided that: the appointing authority provided notice that the resulting list of eligible 

candidates may be used by another appointing authority; and the 

other appointing authority provided notice of the available position 

to its employees, up to ten business days for its employees to apply, 

and considered those applications. 

V. EVALUATION OF REGULATORY IMPACT

Pursuant to the requirements of paragraph 11(b) of rule XXVI of 

the Standing Rules of the Senate, the Committee has considered 

the regulatory impact of this bill and determined that the bill will 

have no regulatory impact within the meaning of the rules. The 

Committee agrees with the Congressional Budget Office’s statement that the bill contains no intergovernmental or private-sector 

mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act 

(UMRA) and would impose no costs on state, local, or tribal governments. 

VI. CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET OFFICE COST ESTIMATE

JULY 13, 2015. 

Hon. RON JOHNSON, Chairman, 

Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, 

U.S. Senate, Washington, DC. 

DEAR MR. CHAIRMAN: The Congressional Budget Office has prepared the enclosed cost estimate for S. 1580, the Competitive Service Act of 2015. 

If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be pleased 

to provide them. The CBO staff contact is Matthew Pickford. 

Sincerely, 

KEITH HALL. 

Enclosure. 

S. 1580—Competitive Service Act of 2015 

S. 1580 would amend federal law with an aim to expediting the 

federal hiring process by allowing agencies to share their assessments of job applicants with one another. If an agency has compiled a list of candidates based on a rating system to fill a vacancy, 

under this legislation the agency could share that information with 

other agencies. 

Based on information from the Office of Personnel Management 

about the number of job openings and agencies that would most 

likely use this authority, CBO expects that agencies would not 

share many assessments. CBO estimates that any implementation 

cost, or savings would be insignificant. 

Enacting S. 1580 could affect direct spending by some agencies 

(such as the Tennessee Valley Authority) because they are authorized to use receipts from the sale of goods, fees, and other collections to cover their operating costs. Therefore, pay-as-you-go procedures apply. Because most of those agencies can make adjustments 

to the amounts collected, CBO estimates that any net changes in 

direct spending by those agencies would not be significant. Enacting the bill would not affect revenues. 


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S. 1580 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act and would 

not affect the budgets of state, local, or tribal governments. 

The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Matthew Pickford. The 

estimate was approved by H. Samuel Papenfuss, Deputy Assistant 

Director for Budget Analysis. 

VII. CHANGES IN EXISTING LAW MADE BY THE BILL, AS REPORTED

In compliance with paragraph 12 of rule XXVI of the Standing 

Rules of the Senate, changes in existing law made by S. 1580 as 

reported are shown as follows (existing law proposed to be omitted 

is enclosed in brackets, new matter is printed in italic, and existing 

law in which no change is proposed is shown in roman): 

TITLE 5—GOVERNMENT ORGANIZATION AND 

EMPLOYEES 

* * * * * * * 

PART III—EMPLOYEES 

* * * * * * * 

Subpart B—Employment and Retention 

* * * * * * * 

CHAPTER 33—EXAMINATION, SELECTION, AND 

PLACEMENT 

* * * * * * * 

SEC. 3318. COMPETITIVE SERVICE; SELECTION FROM CERTIFICATES 

(a) * * * 

(b) OTHER APPOINTING AUTHORITIES.— 

(1) IN GENERAL.—During the 240–day period beginning on 

the date of issuance of a certificate of eligible under section 

3317(a), an appointing authority other than the appointing authority requesting the certificate (in this subsection referred to 

as the ‘other appointing authority’) may select an individual 

from that certificate in accordance with this subsection for an 

appointment to a position that is— 

(A) in the same occupational series as the position for 

which the certification of eligible was issued (in this subsection referred to as the ‘original position’); and 

(B) at a similar grade level as the original position. 

(2) APPLICABILITY.—An appointing authority requesting a certificate of eligible may share the certificate with another appointing authority only if the announcement of the original position provided notice that the resulting list of eligible candidates may be used by another appointing authority. 

(3) REQUIREMENTS.—The selection of an individual under 

paragraph (1)— 

(A) shall be made in accordance with subsection (a); and 

(B) subject to paragraph (4), may be made without any 

additional posting under section 3327. 


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(4) INTERNAL NOTICE.—Before selecting an individual under 

paragraph (1), and subject to the requirements of any collective 

bargaining obligation of the other appointing authority, the 

other appointing authority shall— 

(A) provide notice of the available position to employees 

of the other appointing authority; 

(B) provide up to 10 business days for employees of the 

other appointing authority to apply for the position; and 

(C) review the qualifications of employees submitting an 

application. 

(5) COLLECTIVE BARGAINING OBLIGATIONS.—Nothing in this 

subsection limits any collective bargaining obligation of an 

agency under chapter 71. 

ø(b)¿ (c) 

(1) If an appointing authority proposes to pass over a preference eligible on a certificate in order to select an individual 

who is not a preference eligible, such authority shall file written reasons with the Office for passing over the preference eligible. The Office shall make the reasons presented by the appointing authority part of the record of the preference eligible 

and may require the submission of more detailed information 

from the appointing authority in support of the passing over of 

the preference eligible. The Office shall determine the sufficiency or insufficiency of the reasons submitted by the appointing authority, taking into account any response received from 

the preference eligible under paragraph (2) of this subsection. 

When the Office has completed its review of the proposed passover, it shall send its findings to the appointing authority and 

to the preference eligible. The appointing authority shall comply with the findings of the Office. 

(2) In the case of a preference eligible described in section 

2108(3)(C) of this title who has a compensable service-connected disability of 30 percent or more, the appointing authority shall at the same time it notifies the Office under paragraph (1) of this subsection, notify the preference eligible of the 

proposed passover, of the reasons therefor, and of his right to 

respond to such reasons to the Office within 15 days of the 

date of such notification. The Office shall, before completing its 

review under paragraph (1) of this subsection, require a demonstration by the appointing authority that the passover notification was timely sent to the preference eligible’s last known 

address. 

(3) A preference eligible not described in paragraph (2) of 

this subsection, or his representative, shall be entitled, on request, to a copy of— 

(A) the reasons submitted by the appointing authority in 

support of the proposed passover, and 

(B) the findings of the Office. 

(4) In the case of a preference eligible described in paragraph 

(2) of this subsection, the functions of the Office under this 

subsection may not be delegated. 

ø(c)¿ (d) When three or more names of preference eligibles are 

on a reemployment list appropriate for the position to be filled, a 

nominating or appointing authority may appoint from a register of 

eligibles established after examination only an individual who 


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qualifies as a preference eligible under section 2108(3)(C)–(G) of 

this title. 

SEC. 3319. ALTERNATIVE RANKING AND SELECTION PROCEDURES 

(a) * * * 

(b) * * * 

ø(c) 

(1) An appointing official may select any applicant in the 

highest quality category or, if fewer than 3 candidates have 

been assigned to the highest quality category, in a merged category consisting of the highest and the second highest quality 

categories. 

(2) Notwithstanding paragraph (1), the appointing official 

may not pass over a preference-eligible in the same category 

from which selection is made, unless the requirements of section 3317(b) or 3318(b), as applicable, are satisfied.¿ 

(c) SELECTION.— 

(1) IN GENERAL.—An appointing official may select any applicant in the highest quality category or, if fewer than 3 candidates have been assigned to the highest quality category, in 

a merged category consisting of the highest and the second 

highest quality categories. 

(2) USE BY OTHER APPOINTING OFFICIALS.—Under regulations 

prescribed by the Office of Personnel Management, appointing 

officials other than the appointing official described in paragraph (1) (in this subsection referred to as the ‘other appointing 

official’) may select an applicant for an appointment to a position that is 

(A) in the same occupational series as the position for 

which the certification of eligible was issued (in this subsection referred to as the ‘original position’); and 

(B) at a similar grade level as the original position. 

(3) APPLICABILITY.—An appointing authority requesting a certificate of eligible may share the certificate with another appointing authority only if the announcement of the original position provided notice that the resulting list of eligible candidates may be used by another appointing authority. 

(4) REQUIREMENTS.—The selection of an individual under 

paragraph (2)— 

(A) shall be made in accordance with this subsection; 

and 

(B) subject to paragraph (5), may be made without any 

additional posting under section 3327. 

(5) INTERNAL NOTICE.—Before selecting an individual under 

paragraph (2), and subject to the requirements of any collective 

bargaining obligation of the other appointing authority (within 

the meaning given that term in section 3318(b)(1), the other appointing official shall— 

(A) provide notice of the available position to employees 

of the appointing authority employing the other appointing 

official; 

(B) provide up to 10 business days for employees of the 

other appointing authority to apply for the position; and 

(C) review the qualifications of employees submitting an 

application. 


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(6) COLLECTIVE BARGAINING OBLIGATIONS.—Nothing in this 

subsection limits any collective bargaining obligation of an 

agency under chapter 71. 

(7) PREFERENCE ELIGIBLES.—Notwithstanding paragraph (1) 

and (2), an appointing official may not pass over a preference 

eligible in the same category from which selection is made, unless the requirements of section 3317(b) and 3318(c), as applicable, are satisfied. 

* * * * * * * 

Æ 


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