[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2348 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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116th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 2348

 To restore administrative law judges to the competitive service, and 
                          for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             July 31, 2019

  Ms. Cantwell (for herself and Ms. Collins) introduced the following 
 bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland 
                   Security and Governmental Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To restore administrative law judges to the competitive service, and 
                          for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``ALJ Competitive Service Restoration 
Act''.

SEC. 2. APPOINTMENT OF ADMINISTRATIVE LAW JUDGES.

    (a) In General.--Section 3105 of title 5, United States Code is 
amended to read as follows:
``Sec. 3105. Appointment of administrative law judges
    ``(a) Appointment.--
            ``(1) Authority.--The head of each Executive department and 
        agency shall appoint as many administrative law judges as are 
        necessary for proceedings required to be conducted in 
        accordance with sections 556 and 557.
            ``(2) Selection; examination.--Administrative law judges 
        shall be appointed by the head of an Executive department or an 
        agency from a list of eligible candidates provided by the 
        Office of Personnel Management based upon successful 
        examination and approval of the qualifications of the 
        individual by the Office.
    ``(b) Minimum Qualifications and Conditions of Employment.--
            ``(1) Licensure.--At the time of application for a position 
        and while serving as an administrative law judge, the 
        individual must possess a professional license to practice law 
        under the laws of a State, the District of Columbia, the 
        Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, or any territorial court.
            ``(2) Qualifying experience.--To be eligible to serve as an 
        administrative law judge, an individual shall have not less 
        than 7 years of experience as a licensed attorney litigating or 
        adjudicating formal hearings or trials involving civil, 
        criminal, or administrative law at the Federal, State, or local 
        level.
    ``(c) Competitive Service.--Administrative law judge positions 
shall be positions in the competitive service.
    ``(d) Assignment.--Administrative law judges shall be assigned to 
cases in rotation as far as practicable, and may not perform duties 
inconsistent with their duties and responsibilities as administrative 
law judges.
    ``(e) Authority and Role of Administrative Law Judges in Relation 
to Executive Department or Agency Heads.--
            ``(1) Chief alj.--A chief administrative law judge shall 
        report directly to the head of the Executive department or 
        agency at which the chief is appointed.
            ``(2) ALJ.--An administrative law judge shall report 
        directly to the chief administrative law judge (if any) of the 
        Executive department or agency at which the administrative law 
        judge is appointed. If there is no chief administrative law 
        judge, the administrative law judge shall report directly to 
        the head of the Executive department or agency.
            ``(3) Clarification.--Nothing in this subsection shall be 
        construed to limit or otherwise mitigate the ability or 
        independence of an administrative law judge in carrying out the 
        duties and responsibilities of an administrative law judge.''.
    (b) Exemption From Probationary Period.--Section 3321(c) of title 
5, United States Code, is amended to read as follows:
    ``(c) Subsections (a) and (b) of this section shall not apply with 
respect to appointments in the Senior Executive Service, the Federal 
Bureau of Investigation and Drug Enforcement Administration Senior 
Executive Service, any individual covered by section 1599e of title 10, 
or any individual appointed to an administrative law judge position.''.
    (c) Clarification of Application of Disciplinary Procedures.--
Notwithstanding the amendments made by this Act that classify 
administrative law judges within the competitive service, an 
administrative law judge--
            (1) shall not be subject to subchapter I or II of chapter 
        75 of title 5, United States Code; and
            (2) shall be subject to the requirements of subchapter III 
        of that chapter.
    (d) Conversion of Positions.--With respect to any individual 
serving on the date of the enactment of this Act in an excepted service 
position as an administrative law judge appointed under section 3105 of 
title 5, United States Code, as in effect on the day before the date of 
enactment of this Act, not later than 30 days after the date of 
enactment of this Act, the head of an Executive department listed in 
section 101 of title 5, United States Code, or the agency employing the 
administrative law judge shall convert the appointment to a permanent 
appointment in the competitive service in the Executive department or 
agency, as applicable.
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