II 

Calendar No. 558 

117TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3423 

[Report No. 117–206] 

To implement merit-based reforms to the civil service hiring system that 

replace degree-based hiring with skills- and competency-based hiring. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

DECEMBER 16, 2021 

Ms. SINEMA (for herself, Mr. HAGERTY, Mr. LANKFORD, and Mr. CARPER) 

introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the 

Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs 

NOVEMBER 17, 2022 

Reported by Mr. PETERS, with an amendment 

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

A BILL 

To implement merit-based reforms to the civil service hiring 

system that replace degree-based hiring with skills- and 

competency-based hiring. 

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 ‘‘Chance to Compete 

5 Act of 2021’’. 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB
2 

•S 3423 RS

1 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

2 (a) TERMS DEFINED IN SECTION 3308 OF TITLE 5, 

3 UNITED STATES CODE.—In this Act, the terms ‘‘agency’’, 

4 ‘‘Director’’, ‘‘examining agency’’, ‘‘Office’’, ‘‘subject mat5 ter expert’’, and ‘‘technical assessment’’ have the mean6 ings given those terms in subsection (a) of section 3308 

7 of title 5, United States Code, as added by section 3(a). 

8 (b) OTHER TERMS.—In this Act, the term ‘‘competi9 tive service’’ has the meaning given the term in section 

10 2102 of title 5, United States Code. 

11 SEC. 3. DEFINING THE TERM ‘‘EXAMINATION’’ FOR PUR12 POSES OF HIRING IN THE COMPETITIVE 

13 SERVICE. 

14 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 3308 of title 5, United 

15 States Code, is amended— 

16 (1) by striking ‘‘The Office of Personnel Man17 agement’’ and inserting the following: 

18 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.— 

19 ‘‘(1) EXAMINATION DEFINED FOR PURPOSES OF

20 CHAPTER.—For purposes of this chapter, the term 

21 ‘examination’, with respect to the competitive serv22 ice— 

23 ‘‘(A) means an opportunity to directly 

24 demonstrate knowledge, skills, abilities, and 

25 competencies, through a passing score assess26 ment (unless the examining agency determines 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB
3 

•S 3423 RS

1 that another method, not limited to the out2 comes of pass or fail, makes meaningful and ob3 jective differentiations in rating candidates); 

4 and 

5 ‘‘(B) does not include a self-assessment 

6 from an automated examination, a r ́esum ́e re7 view (unless conducted by a subject matter ex8 pert in a structured manner), or any other 

9 method of determining the experience or level of 

10 educational attainment of an individual, alone. 

11 ‘‘(2) OTHER TERMS.—In this section— 

12 ‘‘(A) the term ‘agency’ means an agency 

13 described in section 901(b) of title 31; 

14 ‘‘(B) the term ‘Director’ means the Direc15 tor of the Office; 

16 ‘‘(C) the term ‘examining agency’ means— 

17 ‘‘(i) the Office; or 

18 ‘‘(ii) an agency to which the Director 

19 has delegated examining authority under 

20 section 1104(a)(2) of this title; 

21 ‘‘(D) the term ‘Office’ means the Office of 

22 Personnel Management; 

23 ‘‘(E) the term ‘passing score assessment’ 

24 means an assessment that an individual can 

25 pass or fail; 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB
4 

•S 3423 RS

1 ‘‘(F) the term ‘subject matter expert’ 

2 means an employee— 

3 ‘‘(i) who is determined by the employ4 ee’s agency to be an expert in the subject 

5 and job field of a position in the competi6 tive service; and 

7 ‘‘(ii) whom the employee’s agency des8 ignates to develop and conduct technical 

9 assessments; and 

10 ‘‘(G) the term ‘technical assessment’ 

11 means a position-specific assessment developed 

12 under subsection (b)(1)(A). 

13 ‘‘(b) TECHNICAL ASSESSMENTS.— 

14 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—For the purpose of con15 ducting an examination for a position in the com16 petitive service, a subject matter expert who is deter17 mined by the subject matter expert’s agency to be 

18 an expert in the subject and job field of the position, 

19 as affirmed and audited by the Chief Human Capital 

20 Officer or Human Resources Director (as applicable) 

21 of that agency, may— 

22 ‘‘(A) develop, in partnership with human 

23 resources employees of the examining agency, a 

24 position-specific assessment that is relevant to 

25 the position; and 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB
5 

•S 3423 RS

1 ‘‘(B) conduct the assessment developed 

2 under subparagraph (A) to— 

3 ‘‘(i) determine whether an applicant 

4 for the position has a passing score to be 

5 qualified for the position; or 

6 ‘‘(ii) rank applicants for the position 

7 as ‘most qualified’ or ‘qualified’ for cat8 egory rating purposes under section 3319. 

9 ‘‘(2) TYPES OF ASSESSMENTS.—A technical as10 sessment developed under paragraph (1) may in11 clude— 

12 ‘‘(A) a structured interview; 

13 ‘‘(B) a work-related sample; 

14 ‘‘(C) a custom or generic behavioral assess15 ment (which, if generic, may be customized as 

16 needed); or 

17 ‘‘(D) another assessment. 

18 ‘‘(3) SHARING AND CUSTOMIZATION OF ASSESS19 MENTS.— 

20 ‘‘(A) SHARING.—An examining agency 

21 may share a technical assessment developed 

22 under paragraph (1) with another examining 

23 agency. 

24 ‘‘(B) CUSTOMIZATION.—An examining 

25 agency with which a technical assessment is 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB
6 

•S 3423 RS

1 shared under subparagraph (A) may customize 

2 the assessment as appropriate. 

3 ‘‘(C) PLATFORM FOR SHARING AND

4 CUSTOMIZATION.—The Director shall establish 

5 and operate a platform on which examining 

6 agencies can share and customize technical as7 sessments under this paragraph. 

8 ‘‘(4) ADOPTION OF DETERMINATIONS BY

9 OTHER AGENCIES.—For purposes of sections 

10 3318(b) and 3319(c), an appointing authority, other 

11 than the appointing authority requesting a certifi12 cate of eligibles, that selects an individual from that 

13 certificate in accordance with such section 3318(b) 

14 or 3319(c) may adopt the determination described in 

15 paragraph (1) of this subsection of a subject matter 

16 expert employed by the requesting appointing au17 thority instead of conducting an additional technical 

18 assessment of the individual. 

19 ‘‘(c) EDUCATIONAL REQUIREMENTS.—The Office’’; 

20 and 

21 (2) in subsection (c), as so designated, in the 

22 second sentence, by striking ‘‘this section’’ and in23 serting ‘‘this subsection’’. 

24 (b) IMPLEMENTATION OF PASSING SCORE ASSESS25 MENT REQUIREMENT.—Not later than 1 year after the 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB
7 

•S 3423 RS

1 date of enactment of this Act, the Director and the head 

2 of any other examining agency shall eliminate the use of 

3 any examination for the competitive service that does not 

4 satisfy the definition of the term ‘‘examination’’ in sub5 section (a) of section 3308 of title 5, United States Code, 

6 as added by subsection (a) of this section. 

7 (c) OPM REPORTING.— 

8 (1) PUBLIC DASHBOARD.— 

9 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Director shall 

10 maintain and periodically update a publicly 

11 available dashboard that, with respect to each 

12 position in the competitive service for which an 

13 examining agency examined applicants during 

14 the applicable period, includes— 

15 (i) the type of assessment used, such 

16 as— 

17 (I) a behavioral off-the-shelf as18 sessment; 

19 (II) a r ́esum ́e review conducted 

20 by a subject matter expert; 

21 (III) an interview conducted by a 

22 subject matter expert; 

23 (IV) a technical off-the-shelf as24 sessment; or 

25 (V) a cognitive ability test; 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB
8 

•S 3423 RS

1 (ii) whether or not the agency selected 

2 a candidate for the position; and 

3 (iii) the hiring authority used to fill 

4 the position. 

5 (B) TIMING.— 

6 (i) INITIAL DATA.—Not later than 

7 180 days after the date of enactment of 

8 this Act, the Director shall update the 

9 dashboard described in subparagraph (A) 

10 with data for positions in the competitive 

11 service for which an examining agency ex12 amined applicants during the period begin13 ning on the date of enactment of this Act 

14 and ending on the date of submission of 

15 the report. 

16 (ii) SUBSEQUENT UPDATES.—Not 

17 later than October 1 of each fiscal year be18 ginning after the date on which the dash19 board is initially updated under clause (i), 

20 the Director shall update the dashboard 

21 described in subparagraph (A) with data 

22 for positions in the competitive service for 

23 which an examining agency examined ap24 plicants during the preceding fiscal year. 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB
9 

•S 3423 RS

1 (2) ANNUAL PROGRESS REPORT.—Each year, 

2 the Director shall make publicly available and sub3 mit to Congress an overall progress report that in4 cludes summary data of the use of examinations (as 

5 defined in subsection (a) of section 3308 of title 5, 

6 United States Code, as added by subsection (a) of 

7 this section) for the competitive service, including 

8 technical assessments, broken down by applicant de9 mographic indicator, including veteran status, race, 

10 gender, disability, and any other measure the Direc11 tor determines appropriate, using the data available 

12 as of October 1, 2020, as a baseline. 

13 (d) GAO REPORT.—Not later than 5 years after the 

14 date of enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General 

15 of the United States shall submit to Congress a report 

16 that— 

17 (1) assesses the implementation of this section 

18 and the amendments made by this section; 

19 (2) assesses the impact and modifications to the 

20 hiring process for the competitive service made by 

21 this section and the amendments made by this sec22 tion; and 

23 (3) makes recommendations for the improve24 ment of the hiring process for the competitive serv25 ice. 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB
10 

•S 3423 RS

1 SEC. 4. AMENDMENTS TO COMPETITIVE SERVICE ACT OF 

2 2015. 

3 (a) PLATFORMS FOR SHARING CERTIFICATES OF

4 ELIGIBLES.—Section 3318(b) of title 5, United States 

5 Code, is amended— 

6 (1) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘240-day’’ 

7 and inserting ‘‘1-year’’; 

8 (2) by redesignating paragraph (5) as para9 graph (6); and 

10 (3) by inserting after paragraph (4) the fol11 lowing: 

12 ‘‘(5) PLATFORM FOR SHARING RE ́SUME ́S OF IN13 DIVIDUALS ON CERTIFICATES OF ELIGIBLES.—The 

14 Director of the Office shall establish and operate a 

15 platform on which an appointing authority can 

16 share, with other appointing authorities and the 

17 Chief Human Capital Officers Council established 

18 under section 1303 of the Chief Human Capital Of19 ficers Act of 2002 (5 U.S.C. 1401 note; Public Law 

20 107–296), the r ́esum ́es of individuals who are on a 

21 certificate of eligibles requested by the appointing 

22 authority.’’. 

23 (b) MAXIMIZING SHARING OF APPLICANT INFORMA24 TION.—Section 2 of the Competitive Service Act of 2015 

25 (Public Law 114–137; 130 Stat. 310) is amended— 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB
11 

•S 3423 RS

1 (1) by redesignating subsections (c) and (d) as 

2 subsections (d) and (e), respectively; and 

3 (2) by inserting after subsection (b) the fol4 lowing: 

5 ‘‘(c) MAXIMIZING SHARING OF APPLICANT INFORMA6 TION.— 

7 ‘‘(1) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection— 

8 ‘‘(A) the terms ‘agency’, ‘Director’, and 

9 ‘Office’ have the meanings given those terms in 

10 section 3308(a) of title 5, United States Code; 

11 and 

12 ‘‘(B) the term ‘competitive service’ has the 

13 meaning given the term in section 2102 of title 

14 5, United States Code. 

15 ‘‘(2) MAXIMIZING SHARING.—The Director 

16 shall maximize the sharing of information among 

17 agencies regarding qualified applicants for positions 

18 in the competitive service, including by— 

19 ‘‘(A) providing for the delegation to other 

20 agencies of the authority of the Office to host 

21 multi-agency hiring actions to increase the re22 turn on investment on high-quality pooled an23 nouncements; and 

24 ‘‘(B) sharing certificates of eligibles for ap25 pointment.’’. 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB
12 

•S 3423 RS

1 (c) AMENDMENT OF IMPLEMENTING REGULA2 TIONS.—Not later than 180 days after the date of enact3 ment of this Act, the Director shall promulgate regulations 

4 to carry out the amendments made by this section. 

5 SEC. 5. MODERNIZING AND REFORMING THE ASSESSMENT 

6 AND HIRING OF FEDERAL JOB CANDIDATES. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subsection (c) of section 3308 of 

8 title 5, United States Code, as so designated by section 

9 3(a), is amended— 

10 (1) by striking ‘‘scientific, technical, or profes11 sional’’; 

12 (2) by inserting ‘‘legally’’ before ‘‘performed’’; 

13 and 

14 (3) by inserting ‘‘in a jurisdiction in which the 

15 duties of the position are to be performed’’ after ‘‘a 

16 prescribed minimum education’’. 

17 (b) IMPLEMENTATION.— 

18 (1) REGULATIONS AND GUIDANCE DOCU19 MENTS.—Not later than 1 year after the date of en20 actment of this Act, the Director shall amend all 

21 regulations and guidance documents as necessary to 

22 implement the amendments made by subsection (a). 

23 (2) HIRING PRACTICES.—Not later than 1 year 

24 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Director 

25 and the head of any other examining agency shall 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB
13 

•S 3423 RS

1 amend the hiring practices of the Office or the other 

2 examining agency, respectively, in accordance with 

3 the amendments made by subsection (a). 

4 SEC. 6. TALENT TEAMS. 

5 (a) FEDERAL AGENCY TALENT TEAMS.— 

6 (1) IN GENERAL.—An agency may establish 1 

7 or more talent teams (referred to in this section as 

8 ‘‘agency talent teams’’), including at the component 

9 level. 

10 (2) DUTIES.—An agency talent team shall pro11 vide hiring support to the agency and other agencies, 

12 including by— 

13 (A) improving examinations (as defined in 

14 subsection (a) of section 3308 of title 5, United 

15 States Code, as added by section 3(a)); 

16 (B) facilitating writing job announcements 

17 for the competitive service; 

18 (C) sharing high-quality certificates of eli19 gibles; and 

20 (D) facilitating hiring for the competitive 

21 service using examinations (as defined in such 

22 subsection (a)) and subject matter experts. 

23 (b) OFFICE OF PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT.—The 

24 Director may establish a Federal talent team to support 

25 agency talent teams in facilitating pooled hiring actions 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB
14 

•S 3423 RS

1 across the Federal Government, providing training, and 

2 creating technology platforms to facilitate hiring for the 

3 competitive service, including— 

4 (1) the development of technical assessments; 

5 and 

6 (2) the sharing of certificates of eligibles under 

7 sections 3318(b) and 3319(c) of title 5, United 

8 States Code. 

9 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

10 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Chance to Compete Act 

11 of 2022’’. 

12 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

13 (a) TERMS DEFINED IN SECTION 3304 OF TITLE 5, 

14 UNITED STATES CODE.—In this Act, the terms ‘‘agency’’, 

15 ‘‘Director’’, ‘‘examining agency’’, ‘‘Office’’, ‘‘subject matter 

16 expert’’, and ‘‘technical assessment’’ have the meanings 

17 given those terms in subsection (c)(1) of section 3304 of title 

18 5, United States Code, as added by section 3(a). 

19 (b) OTHER TERMS.—In this Act, the term ‘‘competi20 tive service’’ has the meaning given the term in section 2102 

21 of title 5, United States Code. 

22 SEC. 3. DEFINING THE TERM ‘‘EXAMINATION’’ FOR PUR23 POSES OF HIRING IN THE COMPETITIVE 

24 SERVICE. 

25 (a) EXAMINATIONS; TECHNICAL ASSESSMENTS.— 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB
15 

•S 3423 RS

1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 3304 of title 5, 

2 United States Code, is amended— 

3 (A) by redesignating subsections (c) through 

4 (f) as subsections (d) through (g), respectively; 

5 and 

6 (B) by inserting after subsection (b) the fol7 lowing: 

8 ‘‘(c) EXAMINATIONS.— 

9 ‘‘(1) DEFINITIONS.— 

10 ‘‘(A) EXAMINATION DEFINED FOR PURPOSES

11 OF THIS CHAPTER.—For purposes of this chap12 ter, the term ‘examination’— 

13 ‘‘(i) means an opportunity to directly 

14 demonstrate knowledge, skills, abilities, and 

15 competencies, through a passing score as16 sessment; 

17 ‘‘(ii) includes a re ́sume ́ review that 

18 is— 

19 ‘‘(I) conducted by a subject matter 

20 expert; and 

21 ‘‘(II) based upon indicators 

22 that— 

23 ‘‘(aa) are derived from a job 

24 analysis; and 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB
16 

•S 3423 RS

1 ‘‘(bb) bear a rational rela2 tionship to performance in the po3 sition for which the examining 

4 agency is hiring; and 

5 ‘‘(iii) on and after the date that is 2 

6 years after the date of enactment of the 

7 Chance to Compete Act of 2022, does not in8 clude a self-assessment from an automated 

9 examination, a re ́sume ́ review (except as 

10 provided in clause (ii)), or any other meth11 od of determining the experience or level of 

12 educational attainment of an individual, 

13 alone. 

14 ‘‘(B) OTHER TERMS.—In this subsection— 

15 ‘‘(i) the term ‘agency’ means an agency 

16 described in section 901(b) of title 31; 

17 ‘‘(ii) the term ‘Director’ means the Di18 rector of the Office; 

19 ‘‘(iii) the term ‘examining agency’ 

20 means— 

21 ‘‘(I) the Office; or 

22 ‘‘(II) an agency to which the Di23 rector has delegated examining author24 ity under section 1104(a)(2) of this 

25 title; 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB
17 

•S 3423 RS

1 ‘‘(iv) the term ‘Office’ means the Office 

2 of Personnel Management; 

3 ‘‘(v) the term ‘passing score assessment’ 

4 means an assessment that an individual 

5 can pass or fail; 

6 ‘‘(vi) the term ‘subject matter expert’ 

7 means an employee or selecting official— 

8 ‘‘(I) who possesses understanding 

9 of the duties of, and knowledge, skills, 

10 and abilities required for, the position 

11 for which the employee or selecting offi12 cial is developing or administering an 

13 assessment; and 

14 ‘‘(II) whom the delegated exam15 ining unit of the agency that employs 

16 the employee or selecting official des17 ignates to assist in the development 

18 and administration of technical assess19 ments under paragraph (2); and 

20 ‘‘(vii) the term ‘technical assessment’ 

21 means an assessment developed under para22 graph (2)(A)(i) that— 

23 ‘‘(I) allows for the demonstration 

24 of job-related technical skills, abilities, 

25 and knowledge; 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB
18 

•S 3423 RS

1 ‘‘(II)(aa) is based upon a job 

2 analysis; 

3 ‘‘(bb) is relevant to the position 

4 for which the assessment is developed; 

5 and 

6 ‘‘(cc) does not discriminate on the 

7 basis of a protected status, as estab8 lished by Director in regulations im9 plementing this subsection; and 

10 ‘‘(III) may include— 

11 ‘‘(aa) a structured interview; 

12 ‘‘(bb) a work-related exercise; 

13 ‘‘(cc) a custom or generic 

14 procedure used to measure an in15 dividual’s employment or career16 related qualifications and inter17 ests; or 

18 ‘‘(dd) another assessment 

19 that meets the criteria under sub20 clauses (I) and (II). 

21 ‘‘(2) TECHNICAL ASSESSMENTS.— 

22 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—For the purpose of con23 ducting an examination for a position in the 

24 competitive service, a subject matter expert who 

25 is determined by the subject matter expert’s 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB
19 

•S 3423 RS

1 agency to be an expert in the subject and job 

2 field of the position, as affirmed and audited by 

3 the Chief Human Capital Officer or Human Re4 sources Director (as applicable) of that agency, 

5 may— 

6 ‘‘(i) develop, in partnership with 

7 human resources employees of the exam8 ining agency, a position-specific assessment 

9 that is relevant to the position; and 

10 ‘‘(ii) administer the assessment devel11 oped under clause (i) to— 

12 ‘‘(I) determine whether an appli13 cant for the position has a passing 

14 score to be qualified for the position; or 

15 ‘‘(II) rank applicants for the posi16 tion for category rating purposes under 

17 section 3319. 

18 ‘‘(B) SHARING AND CUSTOMIZATION OF AS19 SESSMENTS.— 

20 ‘‘(i) SHARING.—An examining agency 

21 may share a technical assessment with an22 other examining agency if each agency 

23 maintains appropriate control over exam24 ination material. 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB
20 

•S 3423 RS

1 ‘‘(ii) CUSTOMIZATION.—An examining 

2 agency with which a technical assessment is 

3 shared under clause (i) may customize the 

4 assessment as appropriate, provided that 

5 the resulting assessment satisfies the re6 quirements under part 300 of title 5, Code 

7 of Federal Regulations (or any successor 

8 regulation). 

9 ‘‘(iii) PLATFORM FOR SHARING AND

10 CUSTOMIZATION.— 

11 ‘‘(I) IN GENERAL.—The Director 

12 shall establish and operate a platform 

13 on which examining agencies can share 

14 and customize technical assessments 

15 under this subparagraph. 

16 ‘‘(II) GUIDANCE.—Not later than 

17 1 year after the date of enactment of 

18 the Chance to Compete Act of 2022, the 

19 Director shall issue guidance to exam20 ining agencies on how to efficiently 

21 and effectively share assessments using 

22 the platform established under sub23 clause (I). 

24 ‘‘(C) ADOPTION OF DETERMINATIONS BY

25 OTHER AGENCIES.—For purposes of sections 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB
21 

•S 3423 RS

1 3318(b) and 3319(c), an appointing authority, 

2 other than the appointing authority requesting a 

3 certificate of eligibles, that selects an individual 

4 from that certificate in accordance with such sec5 tion 3318(b) or 3319(c) may adopt the deter6 mination described in subparagraph (A) of this 

7 paragraph of a subject matter expert employed 

8 by the requesting appointing authority instead of 

9 administering an additional technical assess10 ment of the individual.’’. 

11 (2) ALTERNATIVE RANKING AND SELECTION PRO12 CEDURES.—Section 3319(a) of title 5, United States 

13 Code, is amended by adding at the end the following: 

14 ‘‘To be placed in a quality category under the pre15 ceding sentence, an applicant shall be required to 

16 have passed an examination in accordance with sec17 tion 3304(b), subject to the exceptions in that sec18 tion.’’. 

19 (3) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMEND20 MENT.—Section 3330a(a)(1)(B) of title 5, United 

21 States Code, is amended by striking ‘‘section 

22 3304(f)(1)’’ and inserting ‘‘section 3304(g)(1)’’. 

23 (b) IMPLEMENTATION OF PASSING SCORE ASSESS24 MENT REQUIREMENT.—Not later than 2 years after the date 

25 of enactment of this Act, the Director and the head of any 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB
22 

•S 3423 RS

1 other examining agency shall eliminate the use of any ex2 amination for the competitive service that does not satisfy 

3 the definition of the term ‘‘examination’’ in subsection 

4 (c)(1)(A) of section 3304 of title 5, United States Code, as 

5 added by subsection (a) of this section. 

6 (c) OPM REPORTING.— 

7 (1) PUBLIC DASHBOARD.— 

8 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Director shall main9 tain and periodically update a publicly avail10 able dashboard that, with respect to each position 

11 in the competitive service for which an exam12 ining agency examined applicants during the 

13 applicable period, includes— 

14 (i) the type of assessment used, such 

15 as— 

16 (I) a behavioral off-the-shelf as17 sessment; 

18 (II) a re ́sume ́ review conducted by 

19 a subject matter expert; 

20 (III) an interview conducted by a 

21 subject matter expert; 

22 (IV) a technical off-the-shelf as23 sessment; or 

24 (V) a cognitive ability test; 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB
23 

•S 3423 RS

1 (ii) whether or not the agency selected 

2 a candidate for the position; and 

3 (iii) the hiring authority used to fill 

4 the position. 

5 (B) TIMING.— 

6 (i) INITIAL DATA.—Not later than 180 

7 days after the date of enactment of this Act, 

8 the Director shall update the dashboard de9 scribed in subparagraph (A) with data for 

10 positions in the competitive service for 

11 which an examining agency examined ap12 plicants during the period beginning on the 

13 date of enactment of this Act and ending on 

14 the date of submission of the report. 

15 (ii) SUBSEQUENT UPDATES.—Not later 

16 than October 1 of each fiscal year beginning 

17 after the date on which the dashboard is 

18 initially updated under clause (i), the Di19 rector shall update the dashboard described 

20 in subparagraph (A) with data for positions 

21 in the competitive service for which an ex22 amining agency examined applicants dur23 ing the preceding fiscal year. 

24 (2) ANNUAL PROGRESS REPORT.— 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB
24 

•S 3423 RS

1 (A) IN GENERAL.—Each year, the Director, 

2 in accordance with subparagraphs (B) and (C), 

3 shall make publicly available and submit to Con4 gress an overall progress report that includes 

5 summary data of the use of examinations (as de6 fined in subsection (c)(1)(A) of section 3304 of 

7 title 5, United States Code, as added by sub8 section (a) of this section) for the competitive 

9 service, including technical assessments. 

10 (B) CATEGORIES; BASELINE DATA.—In car11 rying out subparagraph (A), the Director shall— 

12 (i) break the data down by applicant 

13 demographic indicator, including veteran 

14 status, race, gender, disability, and any 

15 other measure the Director determines ap16 propriate; and 

17 (ii) use the data available as of Octo18 ber 1, 2020, as a baseline. 

19 (C) LIMITATIONS.—In carrying out sub20 paragraph (A), the Director may only make pub21 licly available and submit to Congress data re22 lating to examinations for which— 

23 (i) the related announcement is closed; 

24 (ii) certificates have been audited; and 

25 (iii) all hiring processes are completed. 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB
25 

•S 3423 RS

1 (d) GAO REPORT.—Not later than 5 years after the 

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

3 the United States shall submit to Congress a report that— 

4 (1) assesses the implementation of this section 

5 and the amendments made by this section; 

6 (2) assesses the impact and modifications to the 

7 hiring process for the competitive service made by this 

8 section and the amendments made by this section; 

9 and 

10 (3) makes recommendations for the improvement 

11 of the hiring process for the competitive service. 

12 SEC. 4. AMENDMENTS TO COMPETITIVE SERVICE ACT OF 

13 2015. 

14 (a) PLATFORMS FOR SHARING CERTIFICATES OF ELI15 GIBLES.—Section 3318(b) of title 5, United States Code, is 

16 amended— 

17 (1) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘240-day’’ and 

18 inserting ‘‘1-year’’; 

19 (2) by redesignating paragraph (5) as para20 graph (6); and 

21 (3) by inserting after paragraph (4) the fol22 lowing: 

23 ‘‘(5) PLATFORM FOR SHARING RE ́SUME ́S OF INDI24 VIDUALS ON CERTIFICATES OF ELIGIBLES.—The Di25 rector of the Office shall establish and operate a platVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:29 Nov 18, 2022 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00025 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\S3423.RS S3423

pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB
26 

•S 3423 RS

1 form on which an appointing authority can share, 

2 with other appointing authorities and the Chief 

3 Human Capital Officers Council established under 

4 section 1303 of the Chief Human Capital Officers Act 

5 of 2002 (5 U.S.C. 1401 note; Public Law 107–296), 

6 the re ́sume ́s of individuals who are on a certificate of 

7 eligibles requested by the appointing authority.’’. 

8 (b) MAXIMIZING SHARING OF APPLICANT INFORMA9 TION.—Section 2 of the Competitive Service Act of 2015 

10 (Public Law 114–137; 130 Stat. 310) is amended— 

11 (1) by redesignating subsections (c) and (d) as 

12 subsections (d) and (e), respectively; and 

13 (2) by inserting after subsection (b) the fol14 lowing: 

15 ‘‘(c) MAXIMIZING SHARING OF APPLICANT INFORMA16 TION.— 

17 ‘‘(1) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection— 

18 ‘‘(A) the terms ‘agency’, ‘Director’, and ‘Of19 fice’ have the meanings given those terms in sec20 tion 3304(c)(1) of title 5, United States Code; 

21 and 

22 ‘‘(B) the term ‘competitive service’ has the 

23 meaning given the term in section 2102 of title 

24 5, United States Code. 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB
27 

•S 3423 RS

1 ‘‘(2) MAXIMIZING SHARING.—The Director shall 

2 maximize the sharing of information among agencies 

3 regarding qualified applicants for positions in the 

4 competitive service, including by— 

5 ‘‘(A) providing for the delegation to other 

6 agencies of the authority of the Office to host 

7 multi-agency hiring actions to increase the re8 turn on investment on high-quality pooled an9 nouncements; and 

10 ‘‘(B) sharing certificates of eligibles and ac11 companying re ́sume ́s for appointment.’’. 

12 (c) AMENDMENT OF IMPLEMENTING REGULATIONS.— 

13 Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of this 

14 Act, the Director shall promulgate regulations to carry out 

15 the amendments made by this section. 

16 SEC. 5. MODERNIZING AND REFORMING THE ASSESSMENT 

17 AND HIRING OF FEDERAL JOB CANDIDATES. 

18 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 3308 of title 5, United 

19 States Code, is amended— 

20 (1) by striking ‘‘scientific, technical, or profes21 sional’’; 

22 (2) by inserting ‘‘legally’’ before ‘‘performed’’; 

23 and 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB
28 

•S 3423 RS

1 (3) by inserting ‘‘in a jurisdiction in which the 

2 duties of the position are to be performed’’ after ‘‘a 

3 prescribed minimum education’’. 

4 (b) IMPLEMENTATION.— 

5 (1) REGULATIONS AND GUIDANCE DOCUMENTS.— 

6 Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of 

7 this Act, the Director shall amend all regulations and 

8 guidance documents as necessary to implement the 

9 amendments made by subsection (a). 

10 (2) HIRING PRACTICES.—Not later than 1 year 

11 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Director 

12 and the head of any other examining agency shall 

13 amend the hiring practices of the Office or the other 

14 examining agency, respectively, in accordance with 

15 the amendments made by subsection (a). 

16 SEC. 6. TALENT TEAMS. 

17 (a) FEDERAL AGENCY TALENT TEAMS.— 

18 (1) IN GENERAL.—An agency may establish 1 or 

19 more talent teams (referred to in this section as 

20 ‘‘agency talent teams’’), including at the component 

21 level. 

22 (2) DUTIES.—An agency talent team shall pro23 vide hiring support to the agency and other agencies, 

24 including by— 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB
29 

•S 3423 RS

1 (A) improving examinations (as defined in 

2 subsection (c)(1)(A) of section 3304 of title 5, 

3 United States Code, as added by section 3(a)); 

4 (B) facilitating writing job announcements 

5 for the competitive service; 

6 (C) sharing high-quality certificates of eligi7 bles; and 

8 (D) facilitating hiring for the competitive 

9 service using examinations (as defined in such 

10 subsection (c)(1)(A)) and subject matter experts. 

11 (b) OFFICE OF PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT.—The Di12 rector may establish a Federal talent team to support agen13 cy talent teams in facilitating pooled hiring actions across 

14 the Federal Government, providing training, and creating 

15 technology platforms to facilitate hiring for the competitive 

16 service, including— 

17 (1) the development of technical assessments; and 

18 (2) the sharing of certificates of eligibles and ac19 companying re ́sume ́s under sections 3318(b) and 

20 3319(c) of title 5, United States Code. 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB
Calendar No. 558 

117TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3423 

[Report No. 117–206] 

A BILL 

To implement merit-based reforms to the civil servwith skills- and competency-based hiring. ice hiring system that replace degree-based hiring 

NOVEMBER 17, 2022 

Reported with an amendment 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB