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is appointed as a career appointee (as that term is defined 
in section 3132(a)(4) of title 5) within the Senior Execu-
tive Service at the Department. 
‘‘(b) ELEMENTS OF PLAN.—Each annual perform-
ance plan conducted under subsection (a) with respect to 
a political appointee of the Department shall include an 
assessment of whether the appointee is meeting the fol-
lowing goals: 
‘‘(1) Recruiting, selecting, and retaining well- 
qualified individuals for employment at the Depart-
ment. 
‘‘(2) Engaging and motivating employees. 
‘‘(3) Training and developing employees and 
preparing those employees for future leadership roles 
within the Department. 
‘‘(4) Holding each employee of the Department 
that is a manager accountable for addressing issues 
relating to performance, in particular issues relating 
to the performance of employees that report to the 
manager. 
‘‘(c) DEFINITION
OF POLITICAL APPOINTEE.—In 
this section, the term ‘political appointee’ means an em-
ployee of the Department who holds— 
‘‘(1) a position which has been excepted from 
the competitive service by reason of its confidential, 
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policy-determining, policy-making, or policy-advo-
cating character; or 
‘‘(2) a position in the Senior Executive Service 
as a noncareer appointee (as such term is defined in 
section 3132(a) of title 5).’’. 
(b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 
at the beginning of chapter 7 of such title is amended by 
inserting after the item relating to section 717 the fol-
lowing new item: 
‘‘719. Annual performance plan for political appointees.’’. 
SEC. 5. MODIFICATION TO VETERANS PREFERENCE. 
(a) 
ACTIVE
DUTY
REQUIREMENT.—Section 
2108(1)(B) and (D) of title 5, United States Code, are 
amended by striking ‘‘consecutive’’ in each instance it ap-
pears and inserting ‘‘cumulative’’. 
(b) EXPANSION OF ELIGIBILITY OF RETIRED VET-
ERANS.—Section 2108(4) of title 5, United States Code, 
is amended to read as follows: 
‘‘(4) ‘preference eligible’ includes a retired 
member of the armed forces; and’’. 
SEC. 6. REEMPLOYMENT OF FORMER EMPLOYEES. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding sections 3309 
through 3318 of title 5, United States Code, the Secretary 
of Veterans Affairs may noncompetitively appoint a quali-
fied former career or career conditional employee to any 
position within the competitive service at the Department 
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of Veterans Affairs that is one grade or equivalent higher 
than the grade or equivalent of the position at the Depart-
ment most recently occupied by the employee. 
(b) LIMITATION.—The Secretary may not appoint a 
qualified former employee to a position that is more than 
one grade (or equivalent) higher than the position at the 
Department most recently occupied by the employee. 
(c) DEFINITION
OF
QUALIFIED
FORMER
EM-
PLOYEE.—For purposes of this section, the term ‘‘quali-
fied former employee’’ means any individual who— 
(1) formerly occupied any career or career con-
ditional position at the Department of Veterans Af-
fairs within 2 years before applying for reemploy-
ment at the Department; 
(2) voluntarily left such position, or was subject 
to a reduction in force, and had a satisfactory per-
formance record while occupying such position; and 
(3) since leaving such position has maintained 
licensing requirements, related to the position, if 
any, and gained skill, knowledge, or other factors re-
lated to the position. 
SEC. 7. RECRUITING DATABASE. 
(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary of Veterans 
Affairs shall establish a single database that lists— 
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(1) each vacant position in the Department of 
Veterans Affairs that the Secretary determines is 
critical to the mission of the Department, difficult to 
fill, or both; and 
(2) each vacant position in the Department of 
Veterans Affairs for a mental health professional. 
(b) QUALIFIED APPLICANT.—If the Secretary deter-
mines that an applicant for a vacant position listed in the 
database established under subsection (a) is qualified for 
such position but does not select the applicant for such 
position, the Secretary, at the election of the applicant, 
may consider the applicant for other similar vacant posi-
tions listed in the database for which the applicant is 
qualified. 
(c) PROLONGED VACANCIES.—If the Secretary does 
not fill a vacant position listed in the database established 
under subsection (a) after a period determined appro-
priate by the Secretary, the Secretary— 
(1) may ensure that applicants described in 
subsection (b) are considered for such position; and 
(2) may use the database established under 
subsection (a) to assist in filling such position. 
(d) REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after the date 
of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall submit 
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to Congress a report on the use and efficacy of the data-
base established under subsection (a). 
SEC. 8. HUMAN RESOURCES ACADEMY. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Veterans Affairs 
shall provide to human resources professionals of the Vet-
erans Health Administration of the Department of Vet-
erans Affairs training on how to best recruit and retain 
employees of the Veterans Health Administration, includ-
ing with respect to any recruitment and retention matters 
that are unique to the Veterans Health Administration 
pursuant to chapter 74 of title 38, United States Code, 
or other provisions of law. The Secretary shall provide 
such training virtually. 
(b) AMOUNT OF TRAINING.—The Secretary shall en-
sure that each human resources professional of the Vet-
erans Health Administration receives the training de-
scribed in subsection (a)— 
(1) as soon as practicable after being hired by 
the Secretary as a human resource professional; and 
(2) annually thereafter. 
(c) CERTIFICATION.—The Secretary shall require 
that each human resources professional of the Veterans 
Health Administration, upon the completion of the train-
ing described in subsection (a), certifies that the profes-
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