Comment Number: OL-10511070
Received: 3/16/2005 1:56:18 PM
Subject: Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, Request for Comment
Title: National Security Personnel System
CFR Citation: 5 CFR Chapter XCIX and Part 9901
No Attachments

Comments:

DoD has intentionally misunderstood the collaboration Congress requires in section 9902(f) of Public Law 108-136. This section says that DoD will give the unions 30 days notice of the proposed system and then give the unions’ comments full and fair consideration “before deciding whether or how to proceed with the proposal.” At that point, DoD must accept such recommendations of the unions as it sees fit and notify Congress of those recommendations it has not accepted, and continue collaboration over the “proposal” as described in the law. DoD has short-circuited this entire process by issuing its proposed regulation in the Federal Register with little or no detail in the majority of the regulation. Congress could not have made it clearer that the collaborative process with the unions must occur before, not after, DoD’s decision to propose and pursue a new personnel system.