I 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 824 

To reduce the total number of civil service employees in the executive branch 

of the Government through attrition, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 26, 2013 

Mrs. LUMMIS (for herself and Mr. MULVANEY) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform 

A BILL 

To reduce the total number of civil service employees in 

the executive branch of the Government through attrition, 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 Re5 duction Through Attrition Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

7 For purposes of this Act— 

8 (1) the term ‘‘total number of Federal employ9 ees’’ means the total number of Federal employees 

10 in all agencies; 


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1 (2) the term ‘‘Federal employee’’ means an em2 ployee as defined by section 2105 of title 5, United 

3 States Code; 

4 (3) the term ‘‘agency’’ means an executive 

5 agency as defined by section 105 of title 5, United 

6 States Code, excluding the Government Account7 ability Office; 

8 (4) the term ‘‘quarter’’ means a period of 3 cal9 endar months ending on March 31, June 30, Sep10 tember 30, or December 31; and 

11 (5) the term ‘‘baseline quarter’’ means the 

12 quarter in which occurs the date of the enactment 

13 of this Act. 

14 SEC. 3. WORKFORCE LIMITS AND REDUCTIONS. 

15 (a) IN GENERAL.—The President, through the Office 

16 of Management and Budget (in consultation with the Of17 fice of Personnel Management), shall take appropriate 

18 measures to ensure that, effective with respect to each 

19 quarter beginning after the date of the enactment of this 

20 Act, the total number of Federal employees determined 

21 for such quarter does not exceed the applicable maximum 

22 for such quarter. 

23 (b) APPLICABLE MAXIMUM.—For purposes of this 

24 Act, the ‘‘applicable maximum’’ for a quarter is— 


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1 (1) in the case of a quarter before the target2 attainment quarter, the number equal to— 

3 (A) the total number of Federal employees 

4 determined for the baseline quarter, reduced by 

(B) 2 5 ⁄3 of the number of Federal employees 

6 separating from agencies during the period— 

7 (i) beginning on the first day fol8 lowing the baseline quarter; and 

9 (ii) ending on the last day of the 

10 quarter to which the applicable maximum 

11 is being applied; and 

12 (2) in the case of the target-attainment quarter 

13 and any subsequent quarter, the number equal to 90 

14 percent of the total number of Federal employees as 

15 of September 30, 2012. 

16 (c) TARGET-ATTAINMENT QUARTER.—For purposes 

17 of this Act, the term ‘‘target-attainment quarter’’ means 

18 the earlier of— 

19 (1) the first quarter (subsequent to the baseline 

20 quarter) for which the total number of Federal em21 ployees does not exceed 90 percent of the total num22 ber of Federal employees as of September 30, 2012; 

23 or 

24 (2) the quarter ending on September 30, 2015. 

25 (d) METHOD FOR ACHIEVING COMPLIANCE.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para2 graph (2), any reductions necessary in order to 

3 achieve compliance with subsection (a) shall be made 

4 through attrition. 

5 (2) EXCEPTION.—If, for any quarter, the total 

6 number of Federal employees exceeds the applicable 

7 maximum for such quarter, then, until the first suc8 ceeding quarter for which such total number is de9 termined not to exceed the applicable maximum for 

10 such succeeding quarter, reductions shall be made 

11 through both attrition and a freeze on appointments. 

12 (e) COUNTING RULES.—For purposes of this Act— 

13 (1) any determination of the total number of 

14 Federal employees or the number of Federal employ15 ees separating from agencies shall be made— 

16 (A) on a full-time equivalent basis; and 

17 (B) under section 4; and 

18 (2) any determination of the total number of 

19 Federal employees for a quarter shall be made as of 

20 such date or otherwise on such basis as the Office 

21 of Management of Budget (in consultation with the 

22 Office of Personnel Management) considers to be 

23 representative and feasible. 

24 (f) WAIVER AUTHORITY.—The President may waive 

25 any of the preceding provisions of this section, with reVerDate Mar 15 2010 01:52 Mar 01, 2013 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H824.IH H824

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1 spect to an individual appointment, upon a determination 

2 by the President that such appointment is necessary due 

3 to— 

4 (1) a state of war or for reasons of national se5 curity; or 

6 (2) an extraordinary emergency threatening life, 

7 health, safety, or property. 

8 (g) LIMITATION ON PROCUREMENT OF SERVICE

9 CONTRACTS.—The President, through the Office of Man10 agement and Budget (in consultation with the Office of 

11 Personnel Management), shall take appropriate measures 

12 to ensure that there is no increase in the procurement of 

13 service contracts by reason of the enactment of this Act, 

14 except in cases in which a cost comparison demonstrates 

15 that such contracts would be to the financial advantage 

16 of the Government. 

17 SEC. 4. MONITORING AND NOTIFICATION. 

18 The Office of Management and Budget (in consulta19 tion with the Office of Personnel Management) shall— 

20 (1) continuously monitor all agencies and, for 

21 each quarter to which the requirements of section 

22 3(a) apply, determine whether or not such require23 ments have been met; and 

24 (2) not later than 14 days after the end of each 

25 quarter described in paragraph (1), submit to the 


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1 President and each House of Congress, a written de2 termination as to whether or not the requirements of 

3 section 3(a) have been met. 

4 SEC. 5. REGULATIONS. 

5 Any regulations necessary to carry out this Act may 

6 be prescribed by the President or his designee. 

Æ 


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