II 

Calendar No. 271 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1886 

[Report No. 115–189] 

To amend subchapter I of chapter 31 of title 5, United States Code, to 

authorize agencies to make noncompetitive temporary and term appointments in the competitive service. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 28, 2017 

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

referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs 

DECEMBER 1, 2017 

Reported by Mr. JOHNSON, with an amendment 

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 

A BILL 

To amend subchapter I of chapter 31 of title 5, United 

States Code, to authorize agencies to make noncompetitive temporary and term appointments in the competitive 

service. 

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 1886 RS

1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Temporary and Term 

3 Appointments Act of 2017’’. 

4 SEC. 2. NONCOMPETITIVE TEMPORARY AND TERM AP5 POINTMENTS IN THE COMPETITIVE SERVICE. 

6 (a) TEMPORARY AND TERM APPOINTMENTS.—Sub7 chapter I of chapter 31 of title 5, United States Code, 

8 is amended by adding at the end the following: 

9 ‘‘§ 3115. Temporary and term appointments 

10 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

11 ‘‘(1) DIRECTOR.—The term ‘Director’ means 

12 the Director of the Office of Personnel Management. 

13 ‘‘(2) TEMPORARY APPOINTMENT.—The term 

14 ‘temporary appointment’ means an appointment in 

15 the competitive service for a period of not more than 

16 1 year. 

17 ‘‘(3) TERM APPOINTMENT.—The term ‘term 

18 appointment’ means an appointment in the competi19 tive service for a period of more than 1 year and not 

20 more than 5 years. 

21 ‘‘(b) APPOINTMENT.— 

22 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The head of an agency may 

23 make a temporary appointment or term appointment 

24 to a position in the competitive service when the 

25 need for the services of the employee is not perma26 nent. 


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1 ‘‘(2) EXTENSION.—Under conditions prescribed 

2 by the Director, the head of an agency may— 

3 ‘‘(A) extend a temporary appointment 

4 made under paragraph (1) to be for a period of 

5 not more than 2 years; and 

6 ‘‘(B) extend a term appointment made 

7 under paragraph (1) to be for a period of not 

8 more than 5 years. 

9 ‘‘(c) APPOINTMENTS FOR CRITICAL HIRING

10 NEEDS.—Under conditions prescribed by the Director, the 

11 head of an agency may make a noncompetitive temporary 

12 appointment, or a noncompetitive term appointment for 

13 a period of not more than 18 months, to a position in 

14 the competitive service for which a critical hiring need ex15 ists, without regard to the requirements of sections 3327 

16 and 3330. An appointment made under this subsection 

17 may not be extended. 

18 ‘‘(d) REGULATIONS.—The Director may prescribe 

19 regulations to carry out this section, but is not required 

20 to promulgate regulations prior to implementation of this 

21 section. 

22 ‘‘(e) SPECIAL PROVISION REGARDING THE DEPART23 MENT OF DEFENSE.—Nothing in this section shall pre24 clude the Secretary of Defense from making temporary 

25 and term appointments in the competitive service pursuVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:51 Dec 02, 2017 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S1886.RS S1886

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1 ant to section 1105 of the National Defense Authorization 

2 Act for Fiscal Year 2017 (10 U.S.C. note prec. 1580; Pub3 lic Law 114–328; 130 Stat. 2447), and any regulations 

4 prescribed by the Director for the administration of this 

5 section shall not apply to the Secretary of Defense in the 

6 exercise of the authorities granted under such section 

7 1105.’’. 

8 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 

9 for chapter 31 of title 5, United States Code, is amended 

10 by inserting after the item relating to section 3114 the 

11 following: 

‘‘3115. Temporary and term appointments.’’. 

12 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

13 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Temporary and Term 

14 Appointments Act of 2017’’. 

15 SEC. 2. NONCOMPETITIVE TEMPORARY AND TERM AP16 POINTMENTS IN THE COMPETITIVE SERVICE. 

17 (a) TEMPORARY AND TERM APPOINTMENTS.—Sub18 chapter I of chapter 31 of title 5, United States Code, is 

19 amended by adding at the end the following: 

20 ‘‘§ 3115. Temporary and term appointments 

21 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

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

23 Director of the Office of Personnel Management. 

24 ‘‘(2) TEMPORARY APPOINTMENT.—The term 

25 ‘temporary appointment’ means an appointment in 


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1 the competitive service for a period of not more than 

2 1 year. 

3 ‘‘(3) TERM APPOINTMENT.—The term ‘term ap4 pointment’ means an appointment in the competitive 

5 service for a period of more than 1 year and not more 

6 than 5 years. 

7 ‘‘(b) APPOINTMENT.— 

8 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The head of an agency may 

9 make a temporary appointment or term appointment 

10 to a position in the competitive service when the need 

11 for the services of the employee services is not perma12 nent. 

13 ‘‘(2) EXTENSION.—Under conditions prescribed 

14 by the Director, the head of an agency may— 

15 ‘‘(A) extend a temporary appointment made 

16 under paragraph (1) in increments of not more 

17 than 1 year, up to a maximum of 3 total years 

18 of service; and 

19 ‘‘(B) extend a term appointment made 

20 under paragraph (1) in increments determined 

21 appropriate by the head of the agency, up to a 

22 maximum of 6 total years of service. 

23 ‘‘(c) APPOINTMENTS FOR CRITICAL HIRING NEEDS.— 

24 Under conditions prescribed by the Director, the head of 

25 an agency may make a noncompetitive temporary appointVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:51 Dec 02, 2017 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\S1886.RS S1886

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1 ment, or a noncompetitive term appointment for a period 

2 of not more than 18 months, to a position in the competitive 

3 service for which a critical hiring need exists, without re4 gard to the requirements of sections 3327 and 3330. An ap5 pointment made under this subsection may not be extended. 

6 ‘‘(d) REGULATIONS.—The Director may prescribe reg7 ulations to carry out this section, but is not required to 

8 promulgate regulations prior to implementation of this sec9 tion. 

10 ‘‘(e) SPECIAL PROVISION REGARDING THE DEPART11 MENT OF DEFENSE.—Nothing in this section shall preclude 

12 the Secretary of Defense from making temporary and term 

13 appointments in the competitive service pursuant to section 

14 1105 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal 

15 Year 2017 (10 U.S.C. note prec. 1580; Public Law 114– 

16 328; 130 Stat. 2447), and any regulations prescribed by 

17 the Director for the administration of this section shall not 

18 apply to the Secretary of Defense in the exercise of the au19 thorities granted under such section 1105.’’. 

20 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections for 

21 chapter 31 of title 5, United States Code, is amended by 

22 inserting after the item relating to section 3114 the fol23 lowing: 

‘‘3115. Temporary and term appointments.’’. 


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Calendar No. 271 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1886 

[Report No. 115–189] 

A BILL 

To amend subchapter I of chapter 31 of title 5, 

pointments in the competitive service. make noncompetitive temporary and term apUnited States Code, to authorize agencies to 

DECEMBER 1, 2017 

Reported with an amendment 


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