[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 120 (Thursday, July 13, 2023)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2576-S2577]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
SA 395. 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. ___. BLENDED FEDERAL WORKFORCE.
(a) In General.--Section 1103(c) of title 5, United States
Code, is amended--
(1) in paragraph (1)--
(A) by striking ``(c)(1)'' and inserting ``(c)(1)(A)''; and
(B) by adding at the end the following:
``(B)(i) The Office of Personnel Management shall collect
from Executive agencies, other than elements of the
intelligence community (as defined in section 3(4) of the
National Security Act of 1947 (50 U.S.C. 3003(4))), on at
least an annual basis the following:
``(I) The total number of persons employed directly by the
Executive agency.
``(II) The total number of prime contractor employees and
subcontractor employees, as those terms are defined in
section 8701 of title 41, issued credentials allowing access
to Executive agency property or computer systems.
``(III) The total number of employees of Federal grant and
cooperative agreement recipients, as those legal instruments
are described in sections 6304 and 6305 of title 31,
respectively, who are issued credentials allowing access to
Executive agency property or computer systems.
``(IV) A total count of the workforce of the Executive
agency, including employees, prime contractor employees,
subcontractor employees, grantee employees, and cooperative
agreement employees.
``(ii) The Office of Personnel Management shall compile the
data collected under clause (i) and issue, and post on its
website, an annual report containing the data.''; and
(2) in paragraph (2), by striking ``paragraph (1)'' and
inserting ``paragraph (1)(A)''.
(b) Sense of Congress on Effective and Efficient Management
of the Blended Federal Workforce.--
(1) Definition.--In this subsection, the term ``Executive
agency'' has the meaning given the term in section 105 of
title 5, United States Code.
(2) Findings.--Congress finds the following:
(A) The implementation of Federal laws and the competent
administration of Federal programs require skilled and
capable personnel.
(B) Executive agencies depend on a blended workforce that
includes Federal employees, employees of prime contractors
and subcontractors performing services to Executive agencies,
and employees of State or local governments, nonprofit
organizations, or institutions of higher education performing
services to Executive agencies under the terms of grants and
cooperative agreements (in this subsection referred to as
``grantees''), all of whom make essential contributions to
achieving the missions of the Government in service to the
people of the United States.
(C) Approximately 2,000,000 Federal employees help to
execute the laws of the United States, supplemented by an
unknown number, estimated to exceed 5,000,000, of employees
of prime contractors, subcontractors, and grantees providing
services to Executive agencies.
(D) Policymakers, Executive agencies, and observers have
often focused on individual components of the blended
workforce, such as employees, without considering all
components or considering the entire blended workforce and
how all 3 components can work most effectively together.
(E) Executive agencies inhibit their own workforce planning
and risk making decisions that may reduce the overall
efficiency and cost effectiveness of the blended workforce by
focusing on only 1 component in isolation.
(F) Establishing artificial limits on headcounts or full-
time equivalent positions for Federal employees,
administrators, and managerial employees of Executive
agencies may discourage the employment of interns or entry-
level employees to build a balanced employment pipeline and
may inadvertently encourage managers to shift work to
contractors and grantees for the purpose of complying with
such numerical limits, even if those decisions are not
justified by an approach to improve the efficiency or cost
effectiveness of the Executive agency's work.
(G) The Government Accountability Office has identified
strategic human capital management as a high-risk area for
the Federal Government, adding that critical skills gaps
``impede the government from cost-effectively serving the
public and achieving results''.
[[Page S2577]]
(3) Sense of congress.--It is the sense of Congress that
Executive agencies should--
(A) manage the entire Federal blended workforce, including
employees, contractors, and grantees, using a comprehensive
and holistic approach to advance their missions as
effectively and cost efficiently as possible, within
appropriated budgets and without using artificial numerical
limits on headcounts or full-time-equivalent positions; and
(B) conduct a holistic review of their blended workforce
and develop a comprehensive plan to ensure an efficient and
cost-effective blended workforce.
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