I 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3599 

To establish a Federal rotational cyber workforce program for the Federal 

cyber workforce, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 28, 2021 

Mr. KHANNA (for himself and Ms. MACE) introduced the following bill; which 

was referred to the Committee on Oversight and Reform 

A BILL 

To establish a Federal rotational cyber workforce program 

for the Federal cyber workforce, 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 Rotational 

5 Cyber Workforce Program Act of 2021’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

7 In this Act: 

8 (1) AGENCY.—The term ‘‘agency’’ has the 

9 meaning given the term ‘‘Executive agency’’ in sec10 tion 105 of title 5, United States Code, except that 


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1 the term does not include the Government Account2 ability Office. 

3 (2) COMPETITIVE SERVICE.—The term ‘‘com4 petitive service’’ has the meaning given that term in 

5 section 2102 of title 5, United States Code. 

6 (3) COUNCILS.—The term ‘‘Councils’’ means— 

7 (A) the Chief Human Capital Officers 

8 Council established under section 1303 of the 

9 Chief Human Capital Officers Act of 2002 (5 

10 U.S.C. 1401 note); and 

11 (B) the Chief Information Officers Council 

12 established under section 3603 of title 44, 

13 United States Code. 

14 (4) CYBER WORKFORCE POSITION.—The term 

15 ‘‘cyber workforce position’’ means a position identi16 fied as having information technology, cybersecurity, 

17 or other cyber-related functions under section 303 of 

18 the Federal Cybersecurity Workforce Assessment 

19 Act of 2015 (5 U.S.C. 301 note). 

20 (5) DIRECTOR.—The term ‘‘Director’’ means 

21 the Director of the Office of Personnel Management. 

22 (6) EMPLOYEE.—The term ‘‘employee’’ has the 

23 meaning given the term in section 2105 of title 5, 

24 United States Code. 


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1 (7) EMPLOYING AGENCY.—The term ‘‘employ2 ing agency’’ means the agency from which an em3 ployee is detailed to a rotational cyber workforce po4 sition. 

5 (8) EXCEPTED SERVICE.—The term ‘‘excepted 

6 service’’ has the meaning given that term in section 

7 2103 of title 5, United States Code. 

8 (9) ROTATIONAL CYBER WORKFORCE POSI9 TION.—The term ‘‘rotational cyber workforce posi10 tion’’ means a cyber workforce position with respect 

11 to which a determination has been made under sec12 tion 3(a)(1). 

13 (10) ROTATIONAL CYBER WORKFORCE PRO14 GRAM.—The term ‘‘rotational cyber workforce pro15 gram’’ means the program for the detail of employ16 ees among rotational cyber workforce positions at 

17 agencies. 

18 (11) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ 

19 means the Secretary of Homeland Security. 

20 SEC. 3. ROTATIONAL CYBER WORKFORCE POSITIONS. 

21 (a) DETERMINATION WITH RESPECT TO ROTA22 TIONAL SERVICE.— 

23 (1) IN GENERAL.—The head of each agency 

24 may determine that a cyber workforce position in 

25 that agency is eligible for the rotational cyber workVerDate Sep 11 2014 05:32 Jun 24, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3599.IH H3599

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1 force program, which shall not be construed to mod2 ify the requirement under section 4(b)(3) that par3 ticipation in the rotational cyber workforce program 

4 by an employee shall be voluntary. 

5 (2) NOTICE PROVIDED.—The head of an agency 

6 shall submit to the Director— 

7 (A) notice regarding any determination 

8 made by the head of the agency under para9 graph (1); and 

10 (B) for each position with respect to which 

11 the head of the agency makes a determination 

12 under paragraph (1), the information required 

13 under subsection (b)(1). 

14 (b) PREPARATION OF LIST.—The Director, with as15 sistance from the Councils and the Secretary, shall develop 

16 a list of rotational cyber workforce positions that— 

17 (1) with respect to each such position, to the 

18 extent that the information does not disclose sen19 sitive national security information, includes— 

20 (A) the title of the position; 

21 (B) the occupational series with respect to 

22 the position; 

23 (C) the grade level or work level with re24 spect to the position; 


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1 (D) the agency in which the position is lo2 cated; 

3 (E) the duty location with respect to the 

4 position; and 

5 (F) the major duties and functions of the 

6 position; and 

7 (2) shall be used to support the rotational cyber 

8 workforce program. 

9 (c) DISTRIBUTION OF LIST.—Not less frequently 

10 than annually, the Director shall distribute an updated list 

11 developed under subsection (b) to the head of each agency 

12 and other appropriate entities. 

13 SEC. 4. ROTATIONAL CYBER WORKFORCE PROGRAM. 

14 (a) OPERATION PLAN.— 

15 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 270 days 

16 after the date of enactment of this Act, and in con17 sultation with the Councils, the Secretary, represent18 atives of other agencies, and any other entity as the 

19 Director determines appropriate, the Director shall 

20 develop and issue a Federal Rotational Cyber Work21 force Program operation plan providing policies, 

22 processes, and procedures for a program for the de23 tailing of employees among rotational cyber work24 force positions at agencies, which may be incorVerDate Sep 11 2014 05:32 Jun 24, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3599.IH H3599

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1 porated into and implemented through mechanisms 

2 in existence on the date of enactment of this Act. 

3 (2) UPDATING.—The Director may, in consulta4 tion with the Councils, the Secretary, and other enti5 ties as the Director determines appropriate, periodi6 cally update the operation plan developed and issued 

7 under paragraph (1). 

8 (b) REQUIREMENTS.—The operation plan developed 

9 and issued under subsection (a) shall, at a minimum— 

10 (1) identify agencies for participation in the ro11 tational cyber workforce program; 

12 (2) establish procedures for the rotational cyber 

13 workforce program, including— 

14 (A) any training, education, or career de15 velopment requirements associated with partici16 pation in the rotational cyber workforce pro17 gram; 

18 (B) any prerequisites or requirements for 

19 participation in the rotational cyber workforce 

20 program; and 

21 (C) appropriate rotational cyber workforce 

22 program performance measures, reporting re23 quirements, employee exit surveys, and other 

24 accountability devices for the evaluation of the 

25 program; 


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1 (3) provide that participation in the rotational 

2 cyber workforce program by an employee shall be 

3 voluntary; 

4 (4) provide that an employee shall be eligible to 

5 participate in the rotational cyber workforce pro6 gram if the head of the employing agency of the em7 ployee, or a designee of the head of the employing 

8 agency of the employee, approves of the participation 

9 of the employee; 

10 (5) provide that the detail of an employee to a 

11 rotational cyber workforce position under the rota12 tional cyber workforce program shall be on a nonre13 imbursable basis; 

14 (6) provide that agencies may agree to partner 

15 to ensure that the employing agency of an employee 

16 that participates in the rotational cyber workforce 

17 program is able to fill the position vacated by the 

18 employee; 

19 (7) require that an employee detailed to a rota20 tional cyber workforce position under the rotational 

21 cyber workforce program, upon the end of the period 

22 of service with respect to the detail, shall be entitled 

23 to return to the position held by the employee, or an 

24 equivalent position, in the employing agency of the 

25 employee without loss of pay, seniority, or other 


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1 rights or benefits to which the employee would have 

2 been entitled had the employee not been detailed; 

3 (8) provide that discretion with respect to the 

4 assignment of an employee under the rotational 

5 cyber workforce program shall remain with the em6 ploying agency of the employee; 

7 (9) require that an employee detailed to a rota8 tional cyber workforce position under the rotational 

9 cyber workforce program in an agency that is not 

10 the employing agency of the employee shall have all 

11 the rights that would be available to the employee if 

12 the employee were detailed under a provision of law 

13 other than this Act from the employing agency to 

14 the agency in which the rotational cyber workforce 

15 position is located; 

16 (10) provide that participation by an employee 

17 in the rotational cyber workforce program shall not 

18 constitute a change in the conditions of the employ19 ment of the employee; and 

20 (11) provide that an employee participating in 

21 the rotational cyber workforce program shall receive 

22 performance evaluations relating to service in the ro23 tational cyber workforce program in a participating 

24 agency that are— 


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1 (A) prepared by an appropriate officer, su2 pervisor, or management official of the employ3 ing agency, acting in coordination with the su4 pervisor at the agency in which the employee is 

5 performing service in the rotational cyber work6 force position; 

7 (B) based on objectives identified in the 

8 operation plan with respect to the employee; 

9 and 

10 (C) based in whole or in part on the con11 tribution of the employee to the agency in which 

12 the employee performed such service, as com13 municated from that agency to the employing 

14 agency of the employee. 

15 (c) PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS FOR ROTATIONAL

16 SERVICE.— 

17 (1) IN GENERAL.—An employee serving in a 

18 cyber workforce position in an agency may, with the 

19 approval of the head of the agency, submit an appli20 cation for detail to a rotational cyber workforce posi21 tion that appears on the list developed under section 

22 3(b). 

23 (2) OPM APPROVAL FOR CERTAIN POSI24 TIONS.—An employee serving in a position in the ex25 cepted service may only be selected for a rotational 


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1 cyber workforce position that is in the competitive 

2 service with the prior approval of the Office of Per3 sonnel Management, in accordance with section 

4 300.301 of title 5, Code of Federal Regulations, or 

5 any successor thereto. 

6 (3) SELECTION AND TERM.— 

7 (A) SELECTION.—The head of an agency 

8 shall select an employee for a rotational cyber 

9 workforce position under the rotational cyber 

10 workforce program in a manner that is con11 sistent with the merit system principles under 

12 section 2301(b) of title 5, United States Code. 

13 (B) TERM.—Except as provided in sub14 paragraph (C), and notwithstanding section 

15 3341(b) of title 5, United States Code, a detail 

16 to a rotational cyber workforce position shall be 

17 for a period of not less than 180 days and not 

18 more than 1 year. 

19 (C) EXTENSION.—The Chief Human Cap20 ital Officer of the agency to which an employee 

21 is detailed under the rotational cyber workforce 

22 program may extend the period of a detail de23 scribed in subparagraph (B) for a period of 60 

24 days unless the Chief Human Capital Officer of 


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1 the employing agency of the employee objects to 

2 that extension. 

3 (4) WRITTEN SERVICE AGREEMENTS.— 

4 (A) IN GENERAL.—The detail of an em5 ployee to a rotational cyber workforce position 

6 shall be contingent upon the employee entering 

7 into a written service agreement with the em8 ploying agency under which the employee is re9 quired to complete a period of employment with 

10 the employing agency following the conclusion 

11 of the detail that is equal in length to the pe12 riod of the detail. 

13 (B) OTHER AGREEMENTS AND OBLIGA14 TIONS.—A written service agreement under 

15 subparagraph (A) shall not supersede or modify 

16 the terms or conditions of any other service 

17 agreement entered into by the employee under 

18 any other authority or relieve the obligations 

19 between the employee and the employing agency 

20 under such a service agreement. Nothing in this 

21 subparagraph prevents an employing agency 

22 from terminating a service agreement entered 

23 into under any other authority under the terms 

24 of such agreement or as required by law or reg25 ulation. 


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1 SEC. 5. REPORTING BY GAO. 

2 Not later than the end of the third fiscal year after 

3 the fiscal year in which the operation plan under section 

4 4(a) is issued, the Comptroller General of the United 

5 States shall submit to Congress a report assessing the op6 eration and effectiveness of the rotational cyber workforce 

7 program, which shall address, at a minimum— 

8 (1) the extent to which agencies have partici9 pated in the rotational cyber workforce program, in10 cluding whether the head of each such participating 

11 agency has— 

12 (A) identified positions within the agency 

13 that are rotational cyber workforce positions; 

14 (B) had employees from other partici15 pating agencies serve in positions described in 

16 subparagraph (A); and 

17 (C) had employees of the agency request to 

18 serve in rotational cyber workforce positions 

19 under the rotational cyber workforce program 

20 in participating agencies, including a descrip21 tion of how many such requests were approved; 

22 and 

23 (2) the experiences of employees serving in ro24 tational cyber workforce positions under the rota25 tional cyber workforce program, including an assess26 ment of— 


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1 (A) the period of service; 

2 (B) the positions (including grade level and 

3 occupational series or work level) held by em4 ployees before completing service in a rotational 

5 cyber workforce position under the rotational 

6 cyber workforce program; 

7 (C) the extent to which each employee who 

8 completed service in a rotational cyber work9 force position under the rotational cyber work10 force program achieved a higher skill level, or 

11 attained a skill level in a different area, with re12 spect to information technology, cybersecurity, 

13 or other cyber-related functions; and 

14 (D) the extent to which service in rota15 tional cyber workforce positions has affected 

16 intra-agency and interagency integration and 

17 coordination of cyber practices, functions, and 

18 personnel management. 

19 SEC. 6. SUNSET. 

20 Effective 5 years after the date of enactment of this 

21 Act, this Act is repealed. 

Æ 


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