S.Amdt. 398

SA 398. Mr. LANKFORD submitted an amendment intended to be proposed
by him to the bill S. 2226, to authorize appropriations for fiscal year
2024 for military activities of the Department of Defense, for military
construction, and for defense activities of the Department of Energy,
to prescribe military personnel strengths for such fiscal year, and for
other purposes; which was ordered to lie on the table; as follows:

At the appropriate place, insert the following:

SEC. ___. FLEXIBILITY FOR TEMPORARY AND TERM APPOINTMENTS.

(a) Temporary and Term Appointments.--Subchapter I of
chapter 31 of title 5, United States Code, is amended by
adding at the end the following:

``Sec. 3117. Temporary and term appointments

``(a) Definitions.--In this section:
``(1) Director.--The term `Director' means the Director of
the Office of Personnel Management.
``(2) Temporary appointment.--The term `temporary
appointment' means an appointment in the competitive service
for a period of not more than 1 year.
``(3) Term appointment.--The term `term appointment' means
an appointment in the competitive service for a period of
more than 1 year and not more than 5 years.
``(b) Appointment.--
``(1) In general.--The head of an Executive agency may make
a temporary appointment or term appointment to a position in
the competitive service when the need for the services of an
employee in the position is not permanent.
``(2) Extension.--Under conditions prescribed by the
Director, the head of an Executive agency may--
``(A) extend a temporary appointment made under paragraph
(1) in increments of not more than 1 year each, up to a
maximum of 3 total years of service; and
``(B) extend a term appointment made under paragraph (1) in
increments determined appropriate by the head of the
Executive agency, up to a maximum of 6 total years of
service.
``(c) Appointments for Critical Hiring Needs.--
``(1) In general.--Under conditions prescribed by the
Director, the head of an Executive agency may make a
noncompetitive temporary appointment, or a noncompetitive
term appointment for a period of not more than 18 months, to
a position in the competitive service for which a critical
hiring need exists, as determined under section 3304, without
regard to the requirements of sections 3327 and 3330.
``(2) No extensions.--An appointment made under paragraph
(1) may not be extended.
``(d) Regulations.--
``(1) In general.--Subject to paragraph (2), the Director
may prescribe regulations to carry out this section.
``(2) Application.--Any regulations prescribed by the
Director for the administration of this section shall not
apply to the Secretary of Defense in the exercise of the
authorities granted under section 1105 of the National
Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2017 (Public Law
114-328; 130 Stat. 2447).

[[Page S2578]]

``(e) Special Provision Regarding the Department of
Defense.--Nothing in this section shall preclude the
Secretary of Defense from making temporary and term
appointments in the competitive service pursuant to section
1105 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal
Year 2017 (Public Law 114-328; 130 Stat. 2447).
``(f) Rule of Construction.--Nothing in this section may be
construed to affect the authorities granted under section
3109.''.
(b) Conforming Amendment.--The table of sections for
subchapter I of chapter 31 of title 5, United States Code, is
amended by inserting after the item relating to section 3116
the following:

``3117. Temporary and term appointments.''.
______