I 
114TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 6278 
To provide certain reforms to promote accountability and efficiency in the 
civil service, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
SEPTEMBER 28, 2016 
Mr. ROKITA introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 
on Oversight and Government Reform 
A BILL 
To provide certain reforms to promote accountability and 
efficiency in the civil service, 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; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
(a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 
‘‘Promote Accountability and Government Efficiency 
Act’’. 
(b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 
this Act is as follows: 
Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 
Sec. 2. At-will employment status for new Federal employees. 
Sec. 3. Immediate suspension of employees for misconduct or poor performance. 
Sec. 4. Limitation on appeal rights. 
Sec. 5. Restriction of pay raises. 
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Sec. 6. Forfeiture of CSRS or FERS annuity for any employee convicted of a 
felony. 
Sec. 7. Transfer from Senior Executive Service to General Schedule. 
Sec. 8. Limitation on official time and use of Government resources in carrying 
out union activities. 
SEC. 2. AT-WILL EMPLOYMENT STATUS FOR NEW FEDERAL 
EMPLOYEES. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other provi-
sion of law, any employee in the civil service (as that term 
is defined in section 2101 of title 5, United States Code) 
hired on or after the date that is 1 year after the date 
of enactment of this Act shall be hired on an at-will basis. 
Such an employee may be removed or suspended, without 
notice or right to appeal, from service by the head of the 
agency at which such employee is employed for good cause, 
bad cause, or no cause at all. 
(b) CLARIFICATION
OF
EMPLOYMENT
PROTEC-
TIONS.—Notwithstanding the requirements of subsection 
(a), this Act shall not be construed to extinguish or lessen 
any effort to achieve equal employment opportunity 
through affirmative action or any right or remedy avail-
able to any employee or applicant for employment in the 
civil service who is hired subject to subsection (a) under— 
(1) the title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 
(42 U.S.C. 2000e et seq.), prohibiting discrimination 
on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, or national 
origin; 
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(2) the Age Discrimination in Employment Act 
of 1967 (29 U.S.C. 621 et seq.), prohibiting dis-
crimination on the basis of age; 
(3) the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 
U.S.C. 201 et seq.), prohibiting discrimination on 
the basis of sex; 
(4) the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. 
701 et seq.), prohibiting discrimination on the basis 
of handicapping condition; 
(5) the Whistleblower Protection Enhancement 
Act of 2012 (Public Law 112–199); 
(6) the provisions of any law, rule, or regulation 
prohibiting discrimination on the basis of marital 
status or political affiliation; 
(7) the Congressional Accountability Act of 
1995, in the case of employees of the legislative 
branch who are subject to such Act; 
(8) the protections relating to prohibited per-
sonnel practices (as that term is defined in section 
2302 of title 5, United States Code); or 
(9) any law protecting the employment rights of 
veterans. 
(c) APPEAL.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Any employee or applicant 
for employment who is subject to subsection (a) and 
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who seeks a remedy under any law listed in sub-
section (b) with respect to an adverse personnel ac-
tion may, in addition to the remedies provide by 
such law, seek an available remedy as provided 
under— 
(A) title 5, United States Code, including 
appealing such action to the Merit Systems 
Protection Board or the Office of the Special 
Counsel; 
(B) the Equal Employment Opportunity 
Commission; or 
(C) consistent with the requirements of 
section 9, any applicable collective bargaining 
agreement. 
(2) LIMITATION.—An employee or applicant for 
employment may appeal an adverse personnel action 
only to a single agency, and may not thereafter 
bring any appeal pertaining to such dismissal before 
any other agency. 
(d) APPLICATION.—This section shall apply with re-
spect to any employee hired on or after the date that is 
1 year after the date of enactment of this Act. 
(e) REGULATIONS.—Not later than 180 days after 
the date of enactment of this section, each agency or in-
strumentality of the Federal Government to which this 
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section applies shall develop operating standards con-
sistent with the requirements of this section, including 
standards with respect to— 
(1) notifying any employee hired on or after 
date specified in subsection (a) that such employee 
is an at-will employee; 
(2) determining which senior positions within 
such agency or instrumentality have the authority to 
separate an at-will employee from service; and 
(3) ensuring adequate oversight is in place to 
ensure that any separation of an at-will employee is 
not a result of discrimination or other violation of 
any law listed under subsection (b). 
(f) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 
(1) EMPLOYEE.—The term ‘‘employee’’ has the 
meaning given such term in section 2105 of title 5, 
United States Code, and includes any officer or em-
ployee of the United States Postal Service or the 
Postal Regulatory Commission. 
(2) PERSONNEL ACTION.—The term ‘‘personnel 
action’’ has the meaning given such term in section 
2302(a)(2)(A) of such title. 
(3) VETERAN.—The term ‘‘veteran’’ has the 
meaning given that term under section 2108(1) of 
such title. 
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SEC. 3. IMMEDIATE SUSPENSION OF EMPLOYEES FOR MIS-
CONDUCT OR POOR PERFORMANCE. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 75 of title 5, United 
States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘SUBCHAPTER VI—IMMEDIATE SUSPENSION 
FOR MISCONDUCT OR POOR PERFORMANCE 
‘‘§ 7551. Definitions 
‘‘In this subchapter— 
‘‘(1) the term ‘employee’ has the meaning given 
such term in section 7501(1) and includes any em-
ployee of the United States Postal Service or the 
Postal Regulatory Commission, but does not include 
any at-will employee (as determined under section 2 
of the Promote Accountability and Government Effi-
ciency Act); and 
‘‘(2) the term ‘suspend’ means the placing of 
any employee, for misconduct or poor performance, 
in a temporary status without duties. 
‘‘§ 7552. Immediate suspension for misconduct or 
poor performance 
‘‘(a) Under regulations prescribed by the Office of 
Personnel Management, the head of an agency may sus-
pend (with or without pay) an employee of such agency 
if the head determines that the misconduct or performance 
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of the employee warrants such suspension. The period of 
any such suspension shall be determined by the head. 
‘‘(b) An employee who is suspended under subsection 
(a) is entitled, after suspension, to— 
‘‘(1) a written notice, not later than 10 days 
after the first day of such suspension, stating the 
specific reasons for the suspension; 
‘‘(2) a reasonable time, but not less than 10 
days, to answer orally and in writing and to furnish 
affidavits and other documentary evidence in sup-
port of the answer; 
‘‘(3) be represented by an attorney or other 
representative; and 
‘‘(4) a review of the case by the agency head 
and a written final decision and the specific reasons 
therefor at the earliest practicable date. 
‘‘(c) An employee against whom an action is taken 
under this section is entitled to appeal to the Merit Sys-
tems Protection Board under section 7701 of this title. 
During such appeal, the Merit Systems Protection Board 
may not take any action to reinstate the employee to the 
position of employment from which such employee is sus-
pended until the date of the final decision of such appeal. 
‘‘(d) Copies of the notice of proposed action, the an-
swer of the employee if written, a summary thereof if 
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made orally, the notice of decision and reasons therefor, 
and any order affecting the suspension, together with any 
supporting material, shall be maintained by the agency 
and shall be furnished to the Merit Systems Protection 
Board upon its request and to the employee affected upon 
the employee’s request. 
‘‘(e) In the case of critical necessity, the head of an 
agency may immediately replace an employee suspended 
under subsection (a) without regard to sections 3309 
through 3318 of title 5, United States Code.’’. 
(b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 
for chapter 75 of title 5, United States Code, is amended 
by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘SUBCHAPTER VI—IMMEDIATE SUSPENSION FOR MISCONDUCT OR POOR 
PERFORMANCE 
‘‘7551. Definitions. 
‘‘7552. Immediate suspension for misconduct or poor performance.’’. 
SEC. 4. LIMITATION ON APPEAL RIGHTS. 
Notwithstanding any other provision of law, an em-
ployee (as that term is defined in section 2(g)(1)) or appli-
cant for employment may not appeal an adverse personnel 
action to more than 1 agency. 
SEC. 5. RESTRICTION OF PAY RAISES. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other provi-
sion of law, an employee may not receive an increase in 
annual rate of pay if such employee did not receive at least 
a score of 4 or 5 out of 5 (or an equivalent rating with 
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respect to a performance appraisal system that does pro-
vide for such a scoring system) on such employee’s latest 
performance review under the performance appraisal sys-
tem applicable to such employee. 
(b) REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after the date 
of enactment of this Act, the Director of the Office of Per-
sonnel Management shall submit to Congress a report that 
contains recommendations for a single-agency rating sys-
tem. 
(c) COLLECTIVE BARGAINING AGREEMENTS.— 
(1) APPLICATION.—The requirements of this 
section shall apply to any collective bargaining 
agreement entered into by the head of an agency on 
or after the date of enactment of this Act. 
(2) GRIEVANCE.—In the case of an employee 
covered by a collective bargaining agreement re-
ferred to in paragraph (1), a grievance filed on be-
half of such employee that results in an increased 
performance rating for such employee may not result 
in an increase in annual rate of pay for such em-
ployee. 
(d) DEFINITION.—In this section, the term ‘‘em-
ployee’’ has the meaning given such term in section 2105 
of title 5, United States Code, and includes any officer 
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