[Congressional Record Volume 172, Number 35 (Monday, February 23, 2026)]
[House]
[Pages H2247-H2248]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
SKILLS-BASED FEDERAL CONTRACTING ACT OF 2025
Mr. TIMMONS. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the
bill (H.R. 5235) to amend title 41, United States Code, to prohibit
minimum educational requirements for proposed contractor personnel in
certain contract solicitations, and for other purposes, as amended.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The text of the bill is as follows:
H.R. 5235
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 ``Skills-Based Federal
Contracting Act of 2025''.
SEC. 2. USE OF REQUIREMENTS REGARDING EDUCATION OF CONTRACTOR
PERSONNEL.
(a) Flexibility in Contractor Education Requirements.--
Chapter 33 of title 41, United States Code, is amended by
adding at the end the following new section:
``Sec. 3313. Flexibility in contractor education requirements
``(a) Prohibition.--A solicitation may not set forth any
minimum education requirement for proposed contractor
personnel in order for a bidder to be eligible for award of a
contract unless the contracting officer includes in the
solicitation a written justification that explains why the
needs of the executive agency cannot be met without any such
requirement and clarifies how the requirement ensures the
needs are met.
``(b) Executive Agency Defined.--In this section, the term
`executive agency' has the meaning given that term in section
133 of this title.''.
(b) Technical and Conforming Amendment.--The table of
sections for chapter 33 of title 41, United States Code, is
amended by adding at the end the following new item:
``3313. Flexibility in contractor education requirements.''.
(c) OMB Guidance.--Not later than 180 days after the date
of the enactment of this Act, the Director of the Office of
Management and Budget shall issue guidance to the heads of
executive agencies for implementing the amendment made by
subsection (a) that includes the following:
(1) Instructions for contracting officers for the
justifications under section 3313(a) of title 41, United
States Code, as added by subsection (a), including a
requirement that each use of an education requirement be
determined, justified, and reviewed.
(2) Instructions for contracting officers that encourages
the use of alternatives to education requirements.
(d) Applicability.--The amendments made by this section
shall apply with respect to solicitations issued on or after
the date that is 15 months after the date of the enactment of
this Act.
(e) Repeal.--Section 813 of the Floyd D. Spence National
Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2001 (Public Law
106-398; 114 Stat. 1654A-214), as implemented in subpart
39.104 of the Federal Acquisition Regulation, as in effect on
January 3, 2025, is repealed as of the date that the guidance
required by subsection (c) becomes effective.
(f) GAO Report.--Not later than 3 years after the date of
the enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General shall
submit to Congress an evaluation of executive agency
compliance with section 3313 of title 41, United States Code,
as added by subsection (a).
(g) Definitions.--In this section:
(1) Education.--The term ``education'' means an associate,
baccalaureate, graduate, or professional degree, specified
coursework, or other form of educational attainment awarded
by a junior or community college, college, or university that
is accredited as a collegiate institution by a recognized
accrediting agency or approved by the appropriate State
education authority under State law (or the appropriate
education authority of the District of Columbia) to grant
associate or higher degrees.
(2) Education requirement.--The term ``education
requirement'' includes a requirement that can be met either
through--
(A) education alone;
(B) education or experience; or
(C) a combination of education and experience.
(3) Executive agency.--The term ``executive agency'' has
the meaning given that term in section 133 of title 41,
United States Code.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from
South Carolina (Mr. Timmons) and the gentleman from Virginia (Mr.
Subramanyam) each will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from South Carolina.
General Leave
Mr. TIMMONS. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members
may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks
and include extraneous material on this measure.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from South Carolina?
There was no objection.
Mr. TIMMONS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 5235, the Skills-Based Federal
Contracting Act, which reins in unnecessary degree requirements in
Federal contracting.
The Federal Government relies heavily on contract employees. Many
jobs in fields like IT and building construction are available through
nondegree pathways such as apprenticeships and boot camps. That is why
private-sector employers have pared back degree requirements for hiring
in recent years.
Unfortunately, Federal solicitations sometimes include requirements
mandating that individuals who perform the work hold certain education
credentials. We should not prohibit those with the right technical
skills from performing Federal contract work just because they lack a
traditional degree.
The companies who employ them, those that offer apprenticeships and
engage in skills-based hiring, should be encouraged to compete for
government contracts, not be excluded from competition.
This bill helps ensure that Federal contractors are able to hire who
they want to hire without additional red tape by prohibiting contract
officers from stipulating education and experience requirements in
contracts, unless the contracting officer can justify in writing that
they are necessary to meet the needs of the agency.
I urge my colleagues to support this bill. I thank Ms. Mace, the
chairwoman of the Subcommittee on Cybersecurity, Information
Technology, and Government Innovation, for her work on this important
reform.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. SUBRAMANYAM. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may
consume.
Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 5235. This bill makes it
easier for Americans who have valuable skills and experience to be
hired as contractors, even if they don't have college degrees. It gets
rid of minimum education and experience requirements that don't make
sense in some of these Federal contracting solicitations.
That is not to say a college education isn't valuable; but, too
often, Federal agencies put unnecessary degree requirements on
contractor positions. These unnecessary requirements hurt a lot of
people.
More than 77 percent of Americans over 25 don't have a bachelor's
degree. Many of those individuals have skills, training, and knowledge
to support our agencies and serve the American people. We shouldn't
block them from those opportunities.
Mr. Speaker, I encourage my colleagues to support H.R. 5235, I
reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. TIMMONS. Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentlewoman from
South Carolina (Ms. Mace).
Ms. MACE. Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague from South Carolina for
[[Page H2248]]
yielding time. Mr. Timmons is doing an excellent job managing floor
time today.
Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of our bill, the Skills-
Based Federal Contracting Act. The price of admission should not be a
4-year college degree.
At a hearing I held last Congress in the Subcommittee on
Cybersecurity, Information Technology, and Government Innovation, a
witness from IBM testified that Federal contractors are rarely able to
place an individual without a 4-year degree on a technology services
contract, regardless of their qualifications. This problem extends
beyond technology and service contracts.
Across the Federal Government, many contract solicitations include
unnecessary degree requirements, mandating individuals who perform
various tasks hold specific education credentials such as 4-year
college degrees.
The Federal Government spends hundreds of billions of dollars
outsourcing work to millions of contractors to perform the functions of
government. This immense purchasing power shapes the entire labor
market.
When we embed unnecessary degree requirements into Federal
contracting solicitations, we are not just making a hiring decision; we
are sending a signal to the entire economy that a college diploma is a
prerequisite for economic opportunity.
With less than 40 percent of Americans holding a 4-year college
degree, this creates a paper ceiling where talented Americans are
excluded from opportunity, regardless of how qualified they may be,
simply because they lack a college degree.
The Skills-Based Federal Contracting Act bill would tear through this
paper ceiling by prohibiting the Federal Government from including a
minimum educational requirement for proposed contractor personnel in a
Federal contract solicitation, unless the contracting officer provides
a written justification for why the needs of the agency cannot be met
without such requirements.
Think about the immense economic value and economic opportunity
created in this country by individuals who didn't finish college. These
include Mark Zuckerberg, Larry Ellison, and Steve Jobs. Under onerous
degree requirements, it would have been nearly impossible for any of
these individuals to have been placed on a government contract.
Across the private sector, we have seen companies move to phase out
or even eliminate degree requirements, recognizing a college degree
does not serve as an effective proxy for competence or skills. It is
far past time the Federal Government follows suit.
This bill in no way tells private companies how to hire or who to
hire. Rather, it removes unnecessary Federal restrictions on their
ability to hire the best qualified Americans who acquired their skills
through alternative pathways.
{time} 1640
In some cases, required education credentials are warranted. For
example, we expect a doctor to have a medical degree, but only a small
fraction of Federal contract work falls into these types of categories.
In the case that it does, this bill would simply require a brief
justification in writing from a contracting officer before they exclude
over 60 percent of American workers who do not have a 4-year degree
from the chance to compete.
Mr. Speaker, I thank the lead Democratic cosponsor of this bill,
Representative Krishnamoorthi, for joining me in this effort.
Skills-based hiring has been a rare area of widespread bipartisan and
nonpartisan support in Congress. The Skills-Based Federal Contracting
Act passed out of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform on
an enormously bipartisan basis by a vote of 44-0.
Together, we can provide all Americans, regardless of whether they
studied classic literature in ivory towers, with economic opportunity
and the chance to work on behalf of their fellow citizens serving our
country.
Mr. Speaker, I urge all Members to support this commonsense,
nonpartisan bill.
Mr. SUBRAMANYAM. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.
Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleagues and the patrons for their work on
this bill. I urge colleagues to vote ``yes'' on H.R. 5235, and I yield
back the balance of my time.
Mr. TIMMONS. Mr. Speaker, I strongly support this bill. I encourage
my colleagues to support this legislation, which puts merit back into
Federal contracts.
Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the
gentleman from South Carolina (Mr. Timmons) that the House suspend the
rules and pass the bill, H.R. 5235, as amended.
The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the
rules were suspended and the bill, as amended, was passed.
A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.
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