“To amend title 10, United States Code, to strengthen and enhance the Department of Defense cyber workforce, and for other purposes.”
No CRS summary available for this bill.
This section expands the qualified positions available under the Cyber Excepted Service (CES)—a personnel flexibility program enabling the Department of Defense to hire and compensate cyber experts outside standard civil service rules in support of U.S. Cyber Command—by (1) adding positions in combatant commands, defense agencies, and field activities supporting Cyber Command and up to 500 additional hard-to-fill, highly skilled positions critical to cyberspace planning and operations; (2) revising basic pay rates for appointees to align with comparable positions across the federal government (from the Department of Defense only) and authorizing rates up to 150% of the maximum rate for Executive Schedule level I (approximately $369,600 in CY2024); and (3) in the required annual report on the program, shortening the sunset provision to three years after enactment of the Cyber Talent Development and Recruitment Act (from five years after enactment of the underlying authority) and adding details on position numbers, titles, duties, locations, costs, pay authority usage, and effects on recruitment and retention.