I 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 8711 

To amend title 5, United States Code, to codify Executive Order 13957 

entitled ‘‘Executive Order on Creating Schedule F In The Excepted 

Service’’, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

OCTOBER 30, 2020 

Mr. KELLER introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Oversight and Reform 

A BILL 

To amend title 5, United States Code, to codify Executive 

Order 13957 entitled ‘‘Executive Order on Creating 

Schedule F In The Excepted Service’’, 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 ‘‘Federal Workforce Ac5 countability and Modernization Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. ESTABLISHING SCHEDULE F OF THE EXCEPTED 

2 SERVICE. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter I of chapter 33 of title 

4 5, United States Codes, is amended by adding at the end 

5 the following: 

6 ‘‘§ 3330f. Schedule F of the excepted service 

7 ‘‘(a) There is established in the excepted service a 

8 Schedule F consisting of any position that is of a confiden9 tial, policy-determining, policy-making, or policy-advo10 cating character and that is not normally subject to 

11 change as a result of a Presidential transition. 

12 ‘‘(b) Not later than 210 days after the date of enact13 ment of this section, and annually thereafter, the head of 

14 each Executive agency shall review each position at the 

15 agency covered by subchapter II of chapter 75. 

16 ‘‘(c) Following any review under subsection (b), the 

17 head shall— 

18 ‘‘(1) with respect to positions not excepted from 

19 the competitive service by statute, petition the Direc20 tor of the Office of Personnel Management to place 

21 in Schedule F any competitive service or excepted 

22 service position under schedule A, B, or D positions 

23 within the agency that the head determines to be of 

24 a confidential, policy-determining, policy-making, or 

25 policy-advocating character and that are not norVerDate Sep 11 2014 18:17 Nov 18, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8711.IH H8711

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1 mally subject to change as a result of a Presidential 

2 transition; and 

3 ‘‘(2) for positions excepted from the competitive 

4 service by statute, determine which such positions 

5 are of a confidential, policy-determining, policy-mak6 ing, or policy-advocating character and are not nor7 mally subject to change as a result of a Presidential 

8 transition. 

9 ‘‘(d) Any petition under subsection (c)(1) shall in10 clude a written explanation for the basis for the agency 

11 head’s determination that such position should be placed 

12 in Schedule F, and the agency head shall publish such de13 termination in the Federal Register. 

14 ‘‘(e) When conducting the review required by sub15 section (b), each agency head should consider the appro16 priateness of either petitioning the Director to place in 

17 Schedule F or including in the determination published 

18 in the Federal Register, as applicable, positions whose du19 ties include any of the following: 

20 ‘‘(1) Substantive participation in the advocacy 

21 for or development or formulation of policy, espe22 cially— 

23 ‘‘(A) substantive participation in the devel24 opment or drafting of regulations and guidance; 

25 or 


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1 ‘‘(B) substantive policy-related work in an 

2 agency or agency component that primarily fo3 cuses on policy. 

4 ‘‘(2) The supervision of attorneys. 

5 ‘‘(3) Substantial discretion to determine the 

6 manner in which the Executive agency exercises 

7 functions committed to the agency by law. 

8 ‘‘(4) Viewing, circulating, or otherwise working 

9 with proposed regulations, guidance, executive or10 ders, or other non-public policy proposals or delib11 erations generally covered by deliberative process 

12 privilege and either— 

13 ‘‘(A) directly reporting to, or regularly 

14 working with, an individual appointed by the 

15 President or an Executive agency head who is 

16 paid at a rate not less than that earned by em17 ployees at GS–13 of the General Schedule; or 

18 ‘‘(B) working in the agency or agency com19 ponent executive secretariat (or equivalent). 

20 ‘‘(5) Conducting, on the Executive agency’s be21 half, collective bargaining negotiations under chapter 

22 71. 

23 ‘‘(f) The Director shall determine whether to grant 

24 any petition under subsection (c) to place a position in 

25 Schedule F. Not later than December 31 of each year, 


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1 the Director shall report to the President, through the Di2 rector of the Office of Management and Budget and the 

3 Assistant to the President for Domestic Policy, concerning 

4 the number of petitions granted and denied for that year 

5 for each Executive agency. 

6 ‘‘(g) Each Executive agency head shall, as necessary 

7 and appropriate, expeditiously petition the Federal Labor 

8 Relations Authority to determine whether any Schedule F 

9 position must be excluded from a collective bargaining unit 

10 under section 7112(b), paying particular attention to the 

11 question of whether incumbents in such positions are re12 quired or authorized to formulate, determine, or influence 

13 the policies of the agency. 

14 ‘‘(h) In appointing an individual to a position in 

15 Schedule F, each Executive agency shall follow the prin16 ciple of veteran preference as far as administratively fea17 sible. 

18 ‘‘(i) Each Executive agency shall establish rules to 

19 prohibit the same personnel practices prohibited by section 

20 2302(b) with respect to any employee or applicant for em21 ployment in Schedule F of the excepted service. 

22 ‘‘(j) The Director of the Office of Personnel Manage23 ment may prescribe such regulations as are necessary to 

24 carry out this section. 

25 ‘‘(k) In this section— 


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1 ‘‘(1) the term ‘Director’ means the Director of 

2 the Office of Personnel Management; and 

3 ‘‘(2) the term ‘Executive agency’ has the mean4 ing given that term in section 105, but does not in5 clude the Government Accountability Office.’’. 

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

7 of subchapter I of chapter 33 of title 5, United States 

8 Codes, is amended by adding after the item relating to 

9 section 3330e the following: 

‘‘3330f. Schedule F of the excepted service.’’. 

Æ 


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