I 
118TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 6771 
To amend title 51, United States Code, to provide for a NASA public- 
private talent program, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
DECEMBER 13, 2023 
Mrs. SYKES (for herself and Mr. MILLER of Ohio) introduced the following 
bill; which was referred to the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology 
A BILL 
To amend title 51, United States Code, to provide for a 
NASA public-private talent program, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘NASA Talent Ex-
change Program Act’’. 
SEC. 2. NASA PUBLIC-PRIVATE TALENT PROGRAM. 
Section 20113 of title 51, United States Code, is 
amended by adding at the end the following new sub-
section: 
‘‘(n) PUBLIC-PRIVATE TALENT PROGRAM.— 
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‘‘(1) ASSIGNMENT AUTHORITY.—Under policies 
and procedures prescribed by the Administration, 
the Administrator may, with the agreement of a pri-
vate sector entity and the consent of an employee of 
the Administration or of such entity, arrange for the 
temporary assignment of such employee of the Ad-
ministration to such private sector entity, or of such 
employee of such entity to the Administration, as 
the case may be. 
‘‘(2) AGREEMENTS.— 
‘‘(A) IN
GENERAL.—The Administrator 
shall provide for a written agreement among 
the Administration, the private sector entity, 
and the employee concerned regarding the 
terms and conditions of the employee’s assign-
ment under this subsection. The agreement 
shall— 
‘‘(i) require that the employee of the 
Administration, upon completion of the as-
signment, will serve in the Administration, 
or elsewhere in the civil service if approved 
by the Administrator, for a period equal to 
twice the length of the assignment; 
‘‘(ii) provide that if the employee of 
the Administration or of the private sector 
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entity (as the case may be) fails to carry 
out the agreement, such employee shall be 
liable to the United States for payment of 
all expenses of the assignment, unless such 
failure was for good and sufficient reason, 
as determined by the Administrator; and 
‘‘(iii) contain language ensuring that 
such employee of the Administration or of 
the private sector entity (as the case may 
be) does not improperly use predecisional 
or draft deliberative information that such 
employee may be privy to or aware of re-
lated to Administration programing, budg-
eting, resourcing, acquisition, or procure-
ment for the benefit or advantage of the 
private sector entity. 
‘‘(B) TREATMENT.—An amount for which 
an employee is liable under subparagraph (A) 
shall be treated as a debt due the United 
States. 
‘‘(C) WAIVER.—The Administrator may 
waive, in whole or in part, collection of a debt 
described in subparagraph (B) based on a de-
termination that the collection would be against 
equity and good conscience and not in the best 
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interests of the United States, after taking into 
account any indication of fraud, misrepresenta-
tion, fault, or lack of good faith on the part of 
the employee concerned. 
‘‘(3) TERMINATION.—An assignment under this 
section may, at any time and for any reason, be ter-
minated by the Administration or the private-sector 
entity concerned, as the case may be. 
‘‘(4) DURATION.— 
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—An assignment under 
this subsection shall be for a period of not less 
than three months and not more than two 
years, renewable up to a total of three years. 
An employee of the Administration may not be 
assigned under this subsection for more than a 
total of three years inclusive of all such assign-
ments. 
‘‘(B) EXTENSION.—An assignment under 
this subsection may be for a period in excess of 
two years, but not more than three years, if the 
Administrator determines that such assignment 
is necessary to meet critical mission or program 
requirements. 
‘‘(5) POLICIES AND PROCEDURES.— 
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‘‘(viii) Any other necessary policies, 
procedures, or guidelines to ensure such 
assignments comply with all relevant statu-
tory authorities and ethics rules, and effec-
tively contribute to one or more of the Ad-
ministration’s missions. 
‘‘(C) INHERENTLY
GOVERNMENTAL
AC-
TIVITIES.—Assignments made under this sub-
section shall not have responsibilities or per-
form duties or decision making regarding Ad-
ministration activities that are inherently gov-
ernmental, pursuant to subpart 7.500 of title 
48, Code of Federal Regulations, and Office of 
Management and Budget review. 
‘‘(6) STATUS
OF
FEDERAL
EMPLOYEES
AS-
SIGNED TO PRIVATE SECTOR ENTITIES.— 
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—An employee of the 
Administration who is assigned to a private sec-
tor entity under this subsection shall be consid-
ered, during the period of such assignment, to 
be on detail to a regular work assignment in 
the Administration for all purposes. The written 
agreement established under paragraph (2)(A) 
shall address the specific terms and conditions 
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related to such employee’s continued status as 
a Federal employee. 
‘‘(B) CERTIFICATION.—In establishing a 
temporary assignment of an employee of the 
Administration to a private sector entity, the 
Administrator shall certify that such temporary 
assignment shall not have an adverse or nega-
tive impact on the mission of the Administra-
tion or organizational capabilities associated 
with such assignment. 
‘‘(7) TERMS
AND
CONDITIONS
FOR
PRIVATE 
SECTOR EMPLOYEES.—An employee of a private sec-
tor entity who is assigned to the Administration 
under this subsection— 
‘‘(A) shall continue to receive pay and ben-
efits from the private sector entity from which 
such employee is assigned and shall not receive 
pay or benefits from the Administration, except 
as provided in subparagraph (B); 
‘‘(B) is deemed to be an employee of the 
Administration for the purposes of— 
‘‘(i) chapters 73 and 81 of title 5; 
‘‘(ii) sections 201, 203, 205, 207, 
208, 209, 603, 606, 607, 643, 654, 1905, 
and 1913 of title 18, except that such sec-
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tion 209 does not apply to any salary, or 
contribution or supplementation of salary 
made pursuant to subparagraph (A) of this 
paragraph; 
‘‘(iii) 
sections 
1343, 
1344, 
and 
1349(b) of title 31; 
‘‘(iv) the Federal Tort Claims Act and 
any other Federal tort liability statute; 
‘‘(v) the Ethics in Government Act of 
1978; and 
‘‘(vi) chapter 21 of title 41; 
‘‘(C) shall not have access to any trade se-
crets or any other nonpublic information which 
is of commercial value to the private sector en-
tity from which such employee is assigned; 
‘‘(D) may not perform work that is consid-
ered inherently governmental in nature, in ac-
cordance with paragraph (5)(C); and 
‘‘(E) may not be used to circumvent— 
‘‘(i) section 1710 of title 41, United 
States Code; or 
‘‘(ii) any limitation or restriction on 
the size of the Administration’s civil serv-
ant workforce. 
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‘‘(8) ADDITIONAL
REQUIREMENTS.—The Ad-
ministrator shall ensure that— 
‘‘(A) the normal duties and functions of an 
employee of the Administration who is assigned 
to a private sector entity under this subsection 
can be reasonably performed by other employ-
ees of the Administration without the perma-
nent transfer or reassignment of other per-
sonnel of the Administration; 
‘‘(B) normal duties and functions of such 
other employees of the Administration are not, 
as a result of and during the course of such 
temporary assignment, performed or augmented 
by contractor personnel in violation of section 
1710 of title 41; and 
‘‘(C) not more than two percent of the Ad-
ministration’s civil servant workforce may par-
ticipate in an assignment under this subsection 
at the same time. 
‘‘(9) CONFLICTS OF INTEREST.—The Adminis-
trator shall implement a system to identify, mitigate, 
and manage any conflicts of interests that may arise 
as a result of an employee’s assignment under this 
subsection. 
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‘‘(10) PROHIBITION
AGAINST
CHARGING
CER-
TAIN
COSTS
TO
THE
FEDERAL
GOVERNMENT.—A 
private-sector entity may not charge the Administra-
tion or any other agency of the Federal Government, 
as direct or indirect costs under a Federal contract, 
the costs of pay or benefits paid by the entity to an 
employee assigned to the Administration under this 
subsection for the period of the assignment con-
cerned. 
‘‘(11) CONSIDERATIONS.—In carrying out this 
subsection, the Administrator shall take into consid-
eration— 
‘‘(A) the question of how assignments 
under this subsection might best be used to 
help meet the needs of the Administration with 
respect to the training of employees; and 
‘‘(B) where applicable, areas of particular 
private sector expertise, such as cybersecurity. 
‘‘(12) NASA REPORTING.— 
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than April 
30 of each year, the Administrator shall submit 
to the Committee on Science, Space, and Tech-
nology of the House of Representatives and the 
Committee on Commerce, Science, and Trans-
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portation of the Senate a report summarizing 
the implementation of this subsection. 
‘‘(B) CONTENTS.—Each report under sub-
paragraph (A) shall include, with respect to the 
annual period to which such report relates, the 
following: 
‘‘(i) Information relating to the total 
number of employees of private sector enti-
ties assigned to the Administration, and 
the total number of employees of the Ad-
ministration assigned to private sector en-
tities. 
‘‘(ii) A brief description and assess-
ment of the talent management benefits 
evidenced from such assignments, as well 
as any identified strategic human capital 
and operational challenges, including the 
following: 
‘‘(I) An identification of the 
names of the private sector entities to 
and from which employees were as-
signed. 
‘‘(II) A complete listing of posi-
tions such employees were assigned to 
and from. 
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‘‘(III) An identification of as-
signed roles and objectives of such as-
signments. 
‘‘(IV) Information relating to the 
durations of such assignments. 
‘‘(V) Information relating to as-
sociated pay grades and levels. 
‘‘(iii) An assessment of impacts of 
such assignments on the Administration 
workforce and workforce culture. 
‘‘(iv) An identification of the number 
of Administration staff and budgetary re-
sources required to implement this sub-
section. 
‘‘(13) FEDERAL ETHICS.—Nothing in this sub-
section shall affect existing Federal ethics rules ap-
plicable to Federal personnel. 
‘‘(14) GAO REPORTING.— 
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than three 
years after the date of the enactment of this 
subsection, the Comptroller General of the 
United States shall submit to the Committee on 
Science, Space, and Technology of the House of 
Representatives and the Committee on Com-
merce, Science, and Transportation of the Sen-
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ate a report summarizing the implementation of 
this subsection. 
‘‘(B) CONTENTS.—The report under sub-
paragraph (A) shall include the following: 
‘‘(i) A review of the implementation of 
this subsection, according to law and the 
Administration policies and procedures es-
tablished for assignments under this sub-
section. 
‘‘(ii) Information relating to the ex-
tent to which such assignments adhere to 
best practices relating to public-private tal-
ent exchange programs. 
‘‘(iii) A determination as to whether 
there should be limitations on the number 
of individuals participating in such assign-
ments. 
‘‘(iv) Information relating to the ex-
tent to which the Administration complies 
with statutory requirements and ethics 
rules, and appropriately handles potential 
conflicts of interest and access to non-
public information with respect to such as-
signments. 
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‘‘(v) Information relating to the extent 
to which such assignments effectively con-
tribute to one or more of the Administra-
tion’s missions. 
‘‘(vi) Information relating to Adminis-
tration resources, including employee time, 
dedicated to administering such assign-
ments, and whether such resources are suf-
ficient for such administration.’’. 
Æ 
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