“To establish a National Defense Executive Reserve, and for other purposes.”
No CRS summary available for this bill.
This section establishes a National Defense Executive Reserve (Reserve) in the Defense Production Act of 1950 to enable private sector volunteers with specialized expertise to train for and temporarily fill federal positions in specified agencies during activated national defense emergencies, augmenting government capacity without permanent hiring expansions and with pre-set conflict-of-interest controls. The President must direct the Departments of Commerce, Defense, and Homeland Security (and others as appropriate) to create Reserve units within 180 days after final rules are issued; authorizes non-activated training and exercises; limits activation to a non-delegable presidential decision during a specified National Emergencies Act declaration with a public necessity finding; and requires the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), within 270 days of enactment and via notice-and-comment rulemaking under 5 U.S.C. 553, to prescribe criteria for unit size and organization, volunteer recruitment and selection, appointment authorities, compensation levels (including for travel), incentives, security clearances, training frequency, employee interactions, and management staffing. OPM may issue supplemental guidance; Reserve service confers employment and reemployment protections akin to FEMA intermittent disaster personnel under the Stafford Act; funding is authorized from existing Defense Production Act accounts; and a conforming amendment strikes an unused subsection of DPA section 710.
This section revises section 708 of the Defense Production Act of 1950 (50 U.S.C. 4558), which authorizes voluntary agreements and plans of action between government and private industry to address national defense needs with limited antitrust immunity, by (1) eliminating the role of the Federal Trade Commission throughout the section; (2) requiring the Secretary of Commerce, after Attorney General approval and in accordance with 5 U.S.C. 553, to issue rules incorporating standards and procedures for such agreements, published in the Federal Register not less than 30 days before the effective date notwithstanding 5 U.S.C. 553(d); (3) requiring the Attorney General to issue a rule under 5 U.S.C. 553, not later than 270 days after enactment, establishing how to balance national defense and competition in carrying out responsibilities under the section; and (4) shifting certain consultation and notification duties to the Secretary of Commerce. The section further requires the President to develop such a voluntary agreement, using units of the National Defense Executive Reserve, not later than the later of 18 months after enactment or issuance of the Attorney General's rule under new subsection (i), to address a current critical national defense issue (e.g., a plan to respond to and restore a critical infrastructure sector from a catastrophic cyber attack).