IIB 

113TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5169 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 17 (legislative day, SEPTEMBER 16), 2014 

Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and 

Governmental Affairs 

AN ACT 

To amend title 5, United States Code, to enhance accountability within the Senior Executive 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, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Senior Executive Serv3 ice Accountability Act’’. 

4 SEC. 2. BIENNIAL JUSTIFICATION OF POSITIONS. 

5 Section 3133(a)(2) of title 5, United States Code, is 

6 amended by inserting after ‘‘positions’’ the following: ‘‘, 

7 with a justification for each position (by title and organi8 zational location) and the specific result expected from 

9 each position, including the impact of such result on the 

10 agency mission,’’. 

11 SEC. 3. EXTENSION OF PROBATIONARY PERIOD. 

12 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 3393(d) of title 5, United 

13 States Code, is amended by striking ‘‘1-year’’ and insert14 ing ‘‘2-year’’. 

15 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 3592(a)(1) 

16 of such title is amended by striking ‘‘1-year’’ and inserting 

17 ‘‘2-year’’. 

18 SEC. 4. MODIFICATION OF PAY RETENTION FOR SENIOR 

19 EXECUTIVE SERVICE MEMBERS REMOVED 

20 FOR UNDER PERFORMANCE. 

21 Section 3594(c)(1)(B) of title 5, United States Code, 

22 is amended to read as follows: 

23 ‘‘(B)(i) any career appointee placed under 

24 subsection (a) or (b)(2) of this section shall be 

25 entitled to receive basic pay at the highest of— 


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1 ‘‘(I) the rate of basic pay in effect for 

2 the position in which placed; 

3 ‘‘(II) the rate of basic pay in effect at 

4 the time of the placement for the position 

5 the career appointee held in the civil serv6 ice immediately before being appointed to 

7 the Senior Executive Service; or 

8 ‘‘(III) the rate of basic pay in effect 

9 for the career appointee immediately before 

10 being placed under subsection (a) or (b) of 

11 this section; and 

12 ‘‘(ii) any career appointee placed under 

13 subsection (b)(1) of this section shall be entitled 

14 to receive basic pay at the rate of basic pay in 

15 effect for the position in which placed; and’’. 

16 SEC. 5. REQUIREMENT THAT PERFORMANCE REQUIRE17 MENTS BE ESTABLISHED IN ADVANCE. 

18 Section 4312(b)(1) of title 5, United States Code, is 

19 amended— 

20 (1) by striking ‘‘on or’’ and inserting ‘‘not later 

21 than 30 calendar days’’; and 

22 (2) by inserting ‘‘in writing’’ after ‘‘commu23 nicated’’. 


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1 SEC. 6. AMENDMENTS TO ADVERSE ACTION PROVISIONS 

2 WITH RESPECT TO CAREER APPOINTEES IN 

3 THE SENIOR EXECUTIVE SERVICE. 

4 (a) SUSPENSION FOR 14 DAYS OR LESS FOR SENIOR

5 EXECUTIVE SERVICE EMPLOYEE.—Paragraph (1) of Sec6 tion 7501 of title 5, United States Code, is amended to 

7 read as follows: 

8 ‘‘(1) ‘employee’ means— 

9 ‘‘(A) an individual in the competitive serv10 ice who is not serving a probationary period or 

11 trial period under an initial appointment or who 

12 has completed 1 year of current continuous em13 ployment in the same or similar positions under 

14 other than a temporary appointment limited to 

15 1 year or less; or 

16 ‘‘(B) a career appointee in the Senior Ex17 ecutive Service who— 

18 ‘‘(i) has completed the probationary 

19 period prescribed under section 3393(d); or 

20 ‘‘(ii) was covered by the provisions of 

21 subchapter II of this chapter immediately 

22 before appointment to the Senior Executive 

23 Service; and’’. 

24 (b) MODIFICATION OF CAUSE AND PROCEDURE FOR

25 SUSPENSION AND TERMINATION.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 7543 of title 5, 

2 United States Code, is amended— 

3 (A) in subsection (a), by striking ‘‘mis4 conduct,’’ and inserting ‘‘such cause as would 

5 promote the efficiency of the service, mis6 conduct,’’; 

7 (B) in subsection (b)(4), by adding at the 

8 end before the period the following: ‘‘, but no 

9 later than 30 days after the date that the em10 ployee’s answer was received under paragraph 

11 (2)’’; 

12 (C) by redesignating subsections (c), (d), 

13 and (e) as subsections (d), (e), and (f), respec14 tively; 

15 (D) by inserting after subsection (b) the 

16 following: 

17 ‘‘(c) An agency head may extend the deadline for an 

18 employee to answer under subsection (b)(2) or the dead19 line for the agency to issue a written decision under sub20 section (b)(4) for no more than 30 days each. Any exten21 sion by the agency head under this subsection must be 

22 in writing and document the reasons for granting the ex23 tension.’’; and 

24 (E) by adding at the end the following: 


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1 ‘‘(g)(1) With respect to an employee subject to re2 moval under this subchapter, if a final order or decision 

3 is issued in favor of the agency by the agency, the Merit 

4 Systems Protection Board, or the applicable reviewing 

5 court under section 7703, the employee— 

6 ‘‘(A) shall pay to the agency an amount equal 

7 to any pay received by the employee during the pe8 riod beginning on the date that the employee re9 ceived notice under subsection (b)(1) and ending on 

10 the date of such final order or decision; and 

11 ‘‘(B) have removed from such employee’s credit 

12 any annual leave accrued during such period. 

13 ‘‘(2) Paragraph (1) shall apply only to an employee 

14 who, during the period described in paragraph (1)(A), is 

15 placed on administrative leave or any other type of leave 

16 whereby the employee is in a status without duties but 

17 with pay.’’. 

18 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Subchapter 

19 V of chapter 35 of title 5, United States Code, is 

20 amended— 

21 (A) in section 3593— 

22 (i) in subsection (a)(2), by striking 

23 ‘‘misconduct,’’ and inserting ‘‘such cause 

24 as would promote the efficiency of the 

25 service, misconduct,’’; and 


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1 (ii) in subsection (b), by striking 

2 ‘‘misconduct,’’ and inserting ‘‘such cause 

3 as would promote the efficiency of the 

4 service, misconduct,’’; and 

5 (B) in section 3594(a), by striking ‘‘mis6 conduct,’’ and inserting ‘‘such cause as would 

7 promote the efficiency of the service, mis8 conduct,’’. 

Passed the House of Representatives September 16, 

2014. 

Attest: KAREN L. HAAS, 

Clerk. 


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