118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 159 

AN ACT 

To implement merit-based reforms to the civil service hiring 

system that replace degree-based hiring with skills- and 

competency-based hiring, 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, 
2 

•HR 159 EH

1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

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

3 Act of 2023’’. 

4 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

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

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

7 ‘‘Director’’, ‘‘examining agency’’, ‘‘Office’’, ‘‘subject mat8 ter expert’’, and ‘‘technical assessment’’ have the mean9 ings given those terms in subsection (c)(1) of section 3304 

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

11 (b) OTHER TERMS.—In this Act, the term ‘‘competi12 tive service’’ has the meaning given the term in section 

13 2102 of title 5, United States Code. 

14 SEC. 3. DEFINING THE TERM ‘‘EXAMINATION’’ FOR PUR15 POSES OF HIRING IN THE COMPETITIVE 

16 SERVICE. 

17 (a) EXAMINATIONS; TECHNICAL ASSESSMENTS.— 

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

19 United States Code, is amended— 

20 (A) by redesignating subsections (c) 

21 through (f) as subsections (d) through (g), re22 spectively; and 

23 (B) by inserting after subsection (b) the 

24 following: 

25 ‘‘(c) EXAMINATIONS.— 

26 ‘‘(1) DEFINITIONS.— 
3 

•HR 159 EH

1 ‘‘(A) EXAMINATION.— 

2 ‘‘(i) In this chapter, the term ‘exam3 ination’— 

4 ‘‘(I) means an opportunity to di5 rectly demonstrate knowledge, skills, 

6 abilities, and competencies, through a 

7 passing score assessment; 

8 ‘‘(II) includes a re ́sume ́ review 

9 that is— 

10 ‘‘(aa) conducted by a subject 

11 matter expert; and 

12 ‘‘(bb) based upon indicators 

13 that— 

14 ‘‘(AA) are derived from 

15 a job analysis; and 

16 ‘‘(BB) bear a rational 

17 relationship to performance 

18 in the position for which the 

19 examining agency is hiring; 

20 and 

21 ‘‘(III) on and after the date that 

22 is 2 years after the date of enactment 

23 of the Chance to Compete Act of 2023 

24 does not include a self-assessment 

25 from an automated examination, a 
4 

•HR 159 EH

1 re ́sume ́ review (except as provided in 

2 subclause (II)), or any other method 

3 of determining the experience or level 

4 of educational attainment of an indi5 vidual, alone. 

6 ‘‘(ii)(I) An agency’s Chief Human 

7 Capital Officer may waive clause (i)(III) 

8 when needed to enable the filling of a posi9 tion or class of positions. 

10 ‘‘(II) Not later than 180 days after 

11 the date of enactment of the Chance to 

12 Compete Act of 2023, the Director shall 

13 provide agencies guidance and instruction 

14 on the data, evidence, and circumstances 

15 that Chief Human Capital Officers of 

16 agencies should consider in determining 

17 whether to grant a waiver under subclause 

18 (I). 

19 ‘‘(III)(aa) An agency shall post any 

20 waiver granted under subclause (I) on a 

21 public website within 30 days of the grant22 ing of the waiver. 

23 ‘‘(bb) A waiver shall not be considered 

24 in effect until it is posted on the public 

25 website pursuant to item (aa). 
5 

•HR 159 EH

1 ‘‘(IV)(aa) Each agency shall submit to 

2 the Director on a semiannual basis a re3 port summarizing the number of waivers 

4 granted by the Chief Human Capital Offi5 cer of the agency under subclause (I) dur6 ing the preceding 6-month period and the 

7 reasons therefor. 

8 ‘‘(bb) The Director shall submit annu9 ally to the Committee on Homeland Secu10 rity and Governmental Affairs of the Sen11 ate and the Committee on Oversight and 

12 Accountability of the House of Representa13 tives a report summarizing the number of 

14 waivers granted by the Chief Human Cap15 ital Officers of all agencies under subclause 

16 (I) during the preceding year and the rea17 sons therefor provided by the agencies. 

18 ‘‘(V) Not more than 10 percent of an 

19 agency’s positions filled through competi20 tive hiring procedures during a fiscal year 

21 may be filled under the authority of a 

22 waiver granted under clause (I), and an 

23 agency shall obtain the Director’s approval 

24 to fill more than 5 percent of such posi25 tions under such authority. 
6 

•HR 159 EH

1 ‘‘(B) OTHER DEFINITIONS.—In this sub2 section— 

3 ‘‘(i) the term ‘agency’ means an agen4 cy described in section 901(b) of title 31; 

5 ‘‘(ii) the term ‘Director’ means the 

6 Director of the Office; 

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

8 means— 

9 ‘‘(I) the Office; or 

10 ‘‘(II) an agency to which the Di11 rector has delegated examining au12 thority under section 1104(a)(2) of 

13 this title; 

14 ‘‘(iv) the term ‘passing score assess15 ment’ means an assessment that an indi16 vidual can pass or fail; 

17 ‘‘(v) the term ‘subject matter expert’ 

18 means an employee or selecting official— 

19 ‘‘(I) who possesses understanding 

20 of the duties of, and knowledge, skills, 

21 and abilities required for, the position 

22 for which the employee or selecting of23 ficial is developing or administering 

24 an assessment; and 
7 

•HR 159 EH

1 ‘‘(II) whom the agency that em2 ploys the employee or selecting official 

3 designates to assist in the develop4 ment and administration of technical 

5 assessments under paragraph (2); and 

6 ‘‘(vi) the term ‘technical assessment’ 

7 means an assessment developed under 

8 paragraph (2)(A)(i) that— 

9 ‘‘(I) allows for the demonstration 

10 of job-related technical skills, abilities, 

11 and knowledge; 

12 ‘‘(II)(aa) is based upon a job 

13 analysis; and 

14 ‘‘(bb) is relevant to the posi15 tion for which the assessment is 

16 developed; and 

17 ‘‘(III) may include— 

18 ‘‘(aa) a structured interview; 

19 ‘‘(bb) a work-related exer20 cise; 

21 ‘‘(cc) a custom or generic 

22 procedure used to measure an in23 dividual’s employment or career24 related qualifications and inter25 ests; or 
8 

•HR 159 EH

1 ‘‘(dd) another assessment 

2 that meets the criteria under 

3 subclauses (I) and (II). 

4 ‘‘(2) TECHNICAL ASSESSMENTS.— 

5 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—For the purpose of 

6 conducting an examination for a position in the 

7 competitive service, an individual or individuals 

8 whom an agency determines to have an exper9 tise in the subject and job field of the position, 

10 as affirmed and audited by the Chief Human 

11 Capital Officer or Human Resources Director 

12 (as applicable) of that agency, may— 

13 ‘‘(i) develop, in partnership with 

14 human resources employees of the exam15 ining agency, a position-specific assessment 

16 that is relevant to the position; and 

17 ‘‘(ii) administer the assessment devel18 oped under clause (i) to— 

19 ‘‘(I) determine whether an appli20 cant for the position has a passing 

21 score to be qualified for the position; 

22 or 

23 ‘‘(II) rank applicants for the po24 sition for category rating purposes 

25 under section 3319. 
9 

•HR 159 EH

1 ‘‘(B) SHARING AND CUSTOMIZATION OF

2 ASSESSMENTS.— 

3 ‘‘(i) SHARING.—An examining agency 

4 may share a technical assessment with an5 other examining agency if each agency 

6 maintains appropriate control over exam7 ination material. 

8 ‘‘(ii) CUSTOMIZATION.—An examining 

9 agency with which a technical assessment 

10 is shared under clause (i) may customize 

11 the assessment as appropriate, provided 

12 that the resulting assessment satisfies the 

13 requirements under part 300 of title 5, 

14 Code of Federal Regulations (or any suc15 cessor regulation). 

16 ‘‘(iii) PLATFORM FOR SHARING AND

17 CUSTOMIZATION.— 

18 ‘‘(I) IN GENERAL.—The Director 

19 shall establish and operate an online 

20 platform on which examining agencies 

21 can share and customize technical as22 sessments under this subparagraph. 

23 ‘‘(II) ONLINE PLATFORM.—The 

24 Director shall ensure that the online 

25 platform described in subclause (I) in-
10 

•HR 159 EH

1 cludes the ability of its users to rate 

2 the utility of the content and technical 

3 assessments shared in the online plat4 form to allow for a ranking of such 

5 contents. 

6 ‘‘(3) REGULATIONS.—Not later than one year 

7 after the date of enactment of the Chance to Com8 pete Act of 2023, the Office of Personnel Manage9 ment shall prescribe regulations necessary for the 

10 administration of this subsection with respect to em11 ployees in each agency.’’. 

12 (2) ALTERNATIVE RANKING AND SELECTION

13 PROCEDURES.—Section 3319(a) of title 5, United 

14 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the 

15 following: ‘‘To be placed in a quality category under 

16 the preceding sentence, an applicant shall be re17 quired to have passed an examination in accordance 

18 with section 3304(b).’’. 

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.— 
11 

•HR 159 EH

1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 2 years after 

2 the date of enactment of this Act, the Director and 

3 the head of any other examining agency shall elimi4 nate the use of any examination for the competitive 

5 service that does not satisfy the definition of the 

6 term ‘‘examination’’ in subsection (c)(1)(A) of sec7 tion 3304 of title 5, United States Code (as amend8 ed by subsection (a)(1)(B)). 

9 (2) REPORT REQUIRED.—One year following 

10 the date of enactment of this Act, the Director shall 

11 submit to the Committee on Oversight and Account12 ability of the House of Representatives and the 

13 Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental 

14 Affairs of the Senate a report examining agencies’ 

15 progress in implementing the requirement specified 

16 in paragraph (1), identifying any significant difficul17 ties encountered in such implementation. 

18 (c) OPM REPORTING.— 

19 (1) PUBLIC ONLINE TOOL.— 

20 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Director of the Of21 fice of Personnel Management shall maintain 

22 and periodically update a publicly available on23 line tool that, with respect to each position in 

24 the competitive service for which an examining 
12 

•HR 159 EH

1 agency examined applicants during the applica2 ble period, includes— 

3 (i) the type of assessment used, such 

4 as— 

5 (I) a behavioral off-the-shelf as6 sessment; 

7 (II) a re ́sume ́ review conducted 

8 by a subject matter expert; 

9 (III) an interview conducted by a 

10 subject matter expert; 

11 (IV) a technical off-the-shelf as12 sessment; or 

13 (V) a cognitive ability test; 

14 (ii) whether or not the agency selected 

15 a candidate for the position; and 

16 (iii) the hiring authority used to fill 

17 the position. 

18 (B) TIMING.— 

19 (i) INITIAL DATA.—Not later than 

20 180 days after the date of enactment of 

21 this Act, the Director shall update the on22 line tool described in subparagraph (A) 

23 with data for positions in the competitive 

24 service for which an examining agency ex25 amined applicants during the period begin-
13 

•HR 159 EH

1 ning on the date of enactment of this Act 

2 and ending on the date of submission of 

3 the report. 

4 (ii) SUBSEQUENT UPDATES.—Not 

5 later than October 1 of each fiscal year be6 ginning after the date on which the online 

7 tool is initially updated under clause (i), 

8 the Director shall update the online tool 

9 described in subparagraph (A) with data 

10 for positions in the competitive service for 

11 which an examining agency examined ap12 plicants during the preceding fiscal year. 

13 (2) ANNUAL PROGRESS REPORT.— 

14 (A) IN GENERAL.—Each year, the Direc15 tor, in accordance with subparagraphs (B) and 

16 (C), shall make publicly available and submit to 

17 Congress an overall progress report that in18 cludes summary data from examinations that 

19 are closed, audited, and anonymous on the use 

20 of examinations (as defined in subsection 

21 (c)(1)(A) of section 3304 of title 5, United 

22 States Code, as added by subsection (a) of this 

23 section) for the competitive service, including 

24 technical assessments. 
14 

•HR 159 EH

1 (B) CATEGORIES; BASELINE DATA.—In 

2 carrying out subparagraph (A), the Director 

3 shall— 

4 (i) break the data down by applicant 

5 demographic indicator, including veteran 

6 status, race, gender, disability, and any 

7 other measure the Director determines ap8 propriate; and 

9 (ii) use the data available as of Octo10 ber 1, 2020, as a baseline. 

11 (C) LIMITATIONS.—In carrying out sub12 paragraph (A), the Director may only make 

13 publicly available and submit to Congress data 

14 relating to examinations for which— 

15 (i) the related announcement is 

16 closed; 

17 (ii) certificates have been audited; and 

18 (iii) all hiring processes are com19 pleted. 

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

21 date of enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General 

22 of the United States shall submit to Congress a report 

23 that— 

24 (1) assesses the implementation of this section 

25 and the amendments made by this section; 
15 

•HR 159 EH

1 (2) assesses the impact and modifications to the 

2 hiring process for the competitive service made by 

3 this section and the amendments made by this sec4 tion; and 

5 (3) makes recommendations for the improve6 ment of the hiring process for the competitive serv7 ice. 

8 SEC. 4. AMENDMENTS TO COMPETITIVE SERVICE ACT OF 

9 2015. 

10 (a) PLATFORMS FOR SHARING CERTIFICATES OF

11 ELIGIBLES.— 

12 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 3318(b) of title 5, 

13 United States Code, is amended— 

14 (A) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘240- 

15 day’’ and inserting ‘‘1-year’’; 

16 (B) by redesignating paragraph (5) as 

17 paragraph (6); and 

18 (C) by inserting after paragraph (4) the 

19 following: 

20 ‘‘(5) ONLINE TOOL FOR SHARING RE ́SUME ́S OF

21 INDIVIDUALS ON CERTIFICATES OF ELIGIBLES.—Not 

22 later than one year after the date of enactment of 

23 the Chance to Compete Act of 2023, the Director of 

24 the Office of Personnel Management shall establish 

25 and operate an online tool on which an appointing 
16 

•HR 159 EH

1 authority can share, with other appointing authori2 ties and the Chief Human Capital Officers Council 

3 established under section 1303 of the Chief Human 

4 Capital Officers Act of 2002 (5 U.S.C. 1401 note; 

5 Public Law 107–296), the resumes of individuals 

6 who are on a certificate of eligibles requested by the 

7 appointing authority. In carrying out this para8 graph, the Director shall consult with the Chief 

9 Human Capital Officers Counsel and its membership 

10 to develop a plan to establish such online tool.’’. 

11 (2) PLAN.—Not later than 270 days after the 

12 date of enactment of this Act, the Director shall pro13 vide to Congress a plan to develop the online tool re14 quired in paragraph (5) of section 3318(b) of title 

15 5, United States Code, as added by paragraph (1) 

16 of this subsection. Such plan shall— 

17 (A) incorporate the input and feedback col18 lected during the required consultation under 

19 such paragraph; and 

20 (B) include estimated costs for building 

21 and operating the online tool. 

22 (b) MAXIMIZING SHARING OF APPLICANT INFORMA23 TION.—Section 2 of the Competitive Service Act of 2015 

24 (Public Law 114–137; 130 Stat. 310) is amended— 
17 

•HR 159 EH

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) EXPLORING THE BENEFITS OF MAXIMIZING

6 SHARING OF APPLICANT INFORMATION.— 

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

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

9 ‘Office’ have the meanings given those terms in 

10 section 3304(c)(1) of title 5, United States 

11 Code; 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 and 

25 accompanying re ́sume ́s for appointment.’’. 
18 

•HR 159 EH

1 SEC. 5. MODERNIZING AND REFORMING THE ASSESSMENT 

2 AND HIRING OF FEDERAL JOB CANDIDATES. 

3 (a) OPM REVIEW.—The Director shall conduct a re4 view of all examinations for hiring for a position that the 

5 Office or any other examining agency has determined re6 quires a minimum educational requirement because the 

7 nature of the duties of such position is of a scientific, tech8 nical, or professional position pursuant to section 3308 of 

9 title 5, United States Code, to determine whether there 

10 are data, evidence, or other information that justifies the 

11 need for educational requirements for such position. The 

12 Director shall consult with appropriate agencies, employee 

13 representatives, external experts, and other stakeholders 

14 when making any such determinations. 

15 (b) ONLINE TOOL REGARDING POSITION DUTIES.— 

16 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than two years 

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

18 shall create and maintain an online tool that lists 

19 each of the duties determined to require minimum 

20 educational requirements and the data, evidence, or 

21 other information that justifies the need for these 

22 educational requirements. This online tool shall in23 clude a mechanism to receive feedback regarding 

24 data, evidence, or information that could affect the 

25 determination that a duty requires a minimum edu26 cational requirement. 
19 

•HR 159 EH

1 (2) HIRING PRACTICES.—Not later than one 

2 year after the creation of the online tool under para3 graph (1), the Director and the head of any other 

4 examining agency shall amend the hiring practices 

5 of the Office or the other examining agency, respec6 tively, in accordance with the findings of the review 

7 made by subsection (a). 

8 (c) ONLINE TOOL REGARDING RECRUITING.—Upon 

9 the date of enactment of this Act, the Director shall estab10 lish and maintain an online tool that provides Federal 

11 agencies guidance on, and information about, all programs 

12 and authorities that help agencies attract, recruit, hire, 

13 and retain individuals. 

14 SEC. 6. TALENT TEAMS. 

15 (a) FEDERAL AGENCY TALENT TEAMS.— 

16 (1) IN GENERAL.—An agency may establish one 

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

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

19 level. 

20 (2) DUTIES.—An agency talent team shall pro21 vide hiring support to the agency and other agencies, 

22 including by— 

23 (A) improving examinations (as defined in 

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

25 United States Code, as added by section 3(a)); 
20 

•HR 159 EH

1 (B) facilitating writing job announcements 

2 for the competitive service; 

3 (C) sharing high-quality certificates of eli4 gibles; and 

5 (D) facilitating hiring for the competitive 

6 service using examinations (as defined in such 

7 subsection (c)(1)(A)) and subject matter ex8 perts. 

9 (b) OFFICE OF PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT.—The 

10 Director may establish a Federal talent team to support 

11 agency talent teams in facilitating pooled hiring actions 

12 across the Federal Government, providing training, and 

13 creating technology platforms to facilitate hiring for the 

14 competitive service, including— 

15 (1) the development of technical assessments; 

16 and 

17 (2) the sharing of certificates of eligibles and 

18 accompanying re ́sume ́s under sections 3318(b) and 

19 3319(c) of title 5, United States Code. 

20 SEC. 7. UPDATES TO SYSTEM OF RECORDS FOR HIRING AC21 TIONS IN THE CIVIL SERVICE. 

22 (a) UPDATE TO SELECT SYSTEM OF RECORDS.—Not 

23 later than 180 days after the date of enactment of this 

24 Act, and on a regular basis thereafter, the Director of the 

25 Office of Management and Budget shall provide guidance 
21 

•HR 159 EH

1 to all Federal departments and agencies to ensure appro2 priate use of a system of records, including any govern3 ment-wide systems of records, to meet the requirements 

4 of section 552a of title 5, United States Code (commonly 

5 known as the ‘‘Privacy Act’’), in hiring actions in the civil 

6 service. 

7 (b) GOVERNMENT-WIDE SYSTEMS OF RECORDS AT

8 THE OFFICE.— 

9 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Director of the Office of 

10 Personnel Management, in consultation with the Di11 rector of the Office of Management and Budget, 

12 shall ensure that any system of records notice up13 dates required pursuant to the guidance provided 

14 under subsection (a) account for any use of newer 

15 technologies that capture records (as defined in sec16 tion 552a(a)(4) of title 5, United States Code) in 

17 video, audio, and video/audio combination formats 

18 and accommodate maintenance of such video, audio, 

19 and video/audio combination records. 

20 (2) EVALUATION FOR POTENTIAL UPDATES OR

21 REVISIONS.— 

22 (A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year 

23 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Di24 rector of the Office of Personnel Management 

25 shall evaluate whether the government-wide 
22 

•HR 159 EH

1 System of Records Notices (referred to in this 

2 paragraph as ‘‘SORNs’’) ‘‘OPM/GOVT-5 Re3 cruiting, Examining, and Placement Records’’ 

4 and ‘‘OPM/GOVT-6 Personnel Research and 

5 Test Validation Records’’, or any successor ma6 terials thereto, require updating or revision to 

7 implement the purposes of this Act. 

8 (B) ISSUANCE OF UPDATES OR REVISIONS; 

9 NOTICE TO CONGRESS.—If the Director, after 

10 the evaluation under subparagraph (A), finds 

11 that any updates or revisions to the SORNs 

12 identified in that subparagraph are necessary 

13 and appropriate to support implementation of 

14 this Act, the Director shall promptly— 

15 (i) issue the updates or revisions; and 

16 (ii) notify the Committee on Home17 land Security and Governmental Affairs of 

18 the Senate and the Committee on Over19 sight and Accountability of the House of 

20 Representatives. 

Passed the House of Representatives January 24, 

2023. 

Attest: 

Clerk. 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 159 

AN ACT 

To implement merit-based reforms to the civil servother purposes. with skills- and competency-based hiring, and for ice hiring system that replace degree-based hiring