II 

Calendar No. 38 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 349 

[Report No. 118–14] 

To amend title 5, United States Code, to authorize the appointment of 

spouses of members of the Armed Forces who are on active duty, disabled, or deceased to positions in which the spouses will work remotely. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

FEBRUARY 9, 2023 

Mr. LANKFORD (for himself, Ms. SINEMA, Mrs. FISCHER, Mr. KING, Mr. 

SCOTT of Florida, and Ms. HASSAN) introduced the following bill; which 

was read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and 

Governmental Affairs 

APRIL 27, 2023 

Reported by Mr. PETERS, with an amendment 

[Insert the part printed in italic] 

A BILL 

To amend title 5, United States Code, to authorize the 

appointment of spouses of members of the Armed Forces 

who are on active duty, disabled, or deceased to positions 

in which the spouses will work remotely. 

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


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•S 349 RS

1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Military Spouse Em3 ployment Act’’. 

4 SEC. 2. APPOINTMENT OF MILITARY SPOUSES. 

5 Section 3330d of title 5, United States Code, is 

6 amended— 

7 (1) in subsection (a)— 

8 (A) by redesignating paragraph (3) as 

9 paragraph (4); 

10 (B) by inserting after paragraph (2) the 

11 following: 

12 ‘‘(3) The term ‘remote work’ refers to a par13 ticular type of telework under which an employee is 

14 not expected to report to an officially established 

15 agency location on a regular and recurring basis.’’; 

16 and 

17 (C) by adding at the end the following: 

18 ‘‘(5) The term ‘telework’ has the meaning given 

19 the term in section 6501.’’; 

20 (2) in subsection (b)— 

21 (A) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘or’’ at 

22 the end; 

23 (B) in paragraph (2), by striking the pe24 riod at the end and inserting ‘‘; or’’; and 

25 (C) by adding at the end the following: 


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•S 349 RS

1 ‘‘(3) a spouse of a member of the Armed Forces 

2 on active duty, or a spouse of a disabled or deceased 

3 member of the Armed Forces, to a position in which 

4 the spouse will engage in remote work.’’; and 

5 (3) in subsection (c)(1), by striking ‘‘subsection 

6 (a)(3)’’ and inserting ‘‘subsection (a)(4)’’. 

7 SEC. 3. GAO STUDY AND REPORT. 

8 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— 

9 (1) the terms ‘‘agency’’ means an agency de10 scribed in paragraph (1) or (2) of section 901(b) of 

11 title 31, United States Code; 

12 (2) the term ‘‘employee’’ means an employee of 

13 an agency; 

14 (3) the term ‘‘remote work’’ means a particular 

15 type of telework under which an employee is not ex16 pected to report to an officially established agency lo17 cation on a regular and recurring basis; and 

18 (4) the term ‘‘telework’’ means a work flexibility 

19 arrangement under which an employee performs the 

20 duties and responsibilities of such employee’s position, 

21 and other authorized activities, from an approved 

22 worksite other than the location from which the em23 ployee would otherwise work. 

24 (b) REQUIREMENT.—Not later than 18 months after 

25 the date of enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General 


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•S 349 RS

1 of the United States shall conduct a study and publish a 

2 report regarding the use of remote work by agencies, which 

3 shall include a discussion of what is known regarding— 

4 (1) the number of employees who are engaging in 

5 remote work; 

6 (2) the role of remote work in agency recruit7 ment and retention efforts; 

8 (3) the geographic location of employees who en9 gage in remote work; 

10 (4) the effect that remote work has had on how 

11 often employees are reporting to officially established 

12 agency locations to perform the duties and respon13 sibilities of the positions of those employees and other 

14 authorized activities; and 

15 (5) how the use of remote work has affected Fed16 eral office space utilization and spending. 


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Calendar No. 38 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 349 

[Report No. 118–14] 

A BILL 

To amend title 5, United States Code, to authorize 

work remotely. or deceased to positions in which the spouses will Armed Forces who are on active duty, disabled, the appointment of spouses of members of the 

APRIL 27, 2023 

Reported with an amendment 


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