115TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 2131 
AN ACT 
To amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to direct 
the Chief Human Capital Officer of the Department 
of Homeland Security to improve consistency regarding 
discipline and adverse actions in the Department’s work-
force, 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 ‘‘Fixing Internal Re-
sponse to Misconduct Act’’ or the ‘‘DHS FIRM Act’’. 
SEC. 2. DHS POLICY ON DISCIPLINE AND ADVERSE AC-
TIONS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 704 of the Homeland Se-
curity Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 344) is amended— 
(1) in subsection (b)— 
(A) in paragraph (9), by striking ‘‘and’’ at 
the end; 
(B) in paragraph (10), by striking the pe-
riod at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 
(C) by adding at the end the following new 
paragraph: 
‘‘(11) implement a Department-wide policy re-
lated to discipline and adverse actions described in 
subsection (e).’’; 
(2) by redesignating subsection (e) as sub-
section (f); and 
(3) by inserting after subsection (d) the fol-
lowing new subsection: 
‘‘(e) POLICY
ON DISCIPLINE
AND ADVERSE AC-
TIONS.— 
‘‘(1) IN
GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days 
after the date of the enactment of this subsection, 
the Chief Human Capital Officer, in accordance with
any established Department-wide policy that deals 
with discipline and adverse actions, shall provide— 
‘‘(A) guidance to the senior human re-
sources official overseeing discipline and adverse 
actions for headquarters personnel and non- 
component entities, as identified by the Chief 
Human Capital Officer, and relevant component 
heads regarding informing the public about how 
to report employee misconduct; 
‘‘(B) guidance on how Department employ-
ees should report employee misconduct; 
‘‘(C) guidance on the type, quantity, and 
frequency of data regarding discipline and ad-
verse actions to be submitted to the Chief 
Human Capital Officer by the senior human re-
sources official overseeing discipline and adverse 
actions for headquarters personnel and non- 
component entities, as identified by the Chief 
Human Capital Officer and component heads 
for the purposes of paragraph (3)(C); 
‘‘(D) guidance on how to implement any 
such Department-wide policy in a manner that 
promotes greater uniformity and transparency 
in the administration of such policy across the 
Department; and
‘‘(E) guidance and appropriate training on 
prohibited personnel practices, employee rights, 
and procedures and processes related to such. 
‘‘(2) TABLE OF OFFENSES AND PENALTIES.— 
‘‘(A) PRE-EXISTING TABLES.—If a table of 
offenses and penalties exists for a component of 
the Department as of the date of the enactment 
of this subsection, the Chief Human Capital Of-
ficer shall review and, if appropriate, approve 
such table and any changes to such table made 
after such date of enactment. In cases in which 
such tables do not comply with Department pol-
icy, the Chief Human Capital Officer shall in-
struct component heads on corrective measures 
to be taken in order to achieve such compliance. 
‘‘(B) NEW
COMPONENT
TABLES.—If a 
table of offenses and penalties does not exist for 
a component of the Department as of the date 
of enactment of this subsection, a component 
head may, in coordination with the Chief 
Human Capital Officer, develop a table of of-
fenses and penalties to be used by such compo-
nent. The Chief Human Capital Officer shall 
review and, if appropriate, approve such table 
and any changes to such table made after such