5 U.S.C. § 1101: Office of Personnel Management

The Office of Personnel Management is an independent establishment in the executive branch. The Office shall have an official seal, which shall be judicially noticed, and shall have its principal office in the District of Columbia, and may have field offices in other appropriate locations. Except as otherwise provided in this Act [see Tables for classification], all executive orders, rules, and regulations affecting the Federal service shall continue in effect, according to their terms, until modified, terminated, superseded, or repealed by the President, the Office of Personnel Management, the Merit Systems Protection Board, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, or the Federal Labor Relations Authority with respect to matters within their respective jurisdictions. No provision of this Act [see Tables for classification] shall affect any administrative proceedings pending at the time such provision takes effect. Orders shall be issued in such proceedings and appeals shall be taken therefrom as if this Act had not been enacted. No suit, action, or other proceeding lawfully commenced by or against the Director of the Office of Personnel Management or the members of the Merit Systems Protection Board, or officers or employees thereof, in their official capacity or in relation to the discharge of their official duties, as in effect immediately before the effective date of this Act [see Effective Date of 1978 Amendment note above], shall abate by reason of the enactment of this Act [see Tables for classification]. Determinations with respect to any such suit, action, or other proceeding shall be made as if this Act had not been enacted.” In this section, the term ‘major party’ has the meaning given that term under section 9002(6) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 [ 26 U.S.C. 9002(6) ]. Not later than 15 days after the date on which a major party nominates a candidate for President, the Office of Personnel Management shall transmit an electronic record to that candidate on Presidentially appointed positions. After making transmittals under subparagraph (A), the Office of Personnel Management shall transmit such electronic record to any other candidate for President who is an eligible candidate described in section 3(h)(4)(B) of the Presidential Transition Act of 1963 [ Pub. L. 88–277 ] ( 3 U.S.C. 102 note) and may transmit such electronic record to any other candidate for President. all positions which are appointed by the President, including the title and description of the duties of each position; the name of each person holding a position described under subparagraph (A); any vacancy in the positions described under subparagraph (A), and the period of time any such position has been vacant; the date on which an appointment made after the applicable Presidential election for any position described under subparagraph (A) is necessary to ensure effective operation of the Government; and any other information that the Office of Personnel Management determines is useful in making appointments.” Subject to subsection (b), the Secretary of Defense may transfer to the Office of Personnel Management the personnel security investigations functions that, as of the date of the enactment of this Act [ Nov. 24, 2003 ], are performed by the Defense Security Service of the Department of Defense. Such a transfer may be made only with the concurrence of the Director of the Office of Personnel Management. The Director of the Office of Personnel Management may accept a transfer of functions under paragraph (1). Any transfer of a function under this subsection is a transfer of function within the meaning of section 3503 of title 5 , United States Code. The Secretary of Defense may not make a transfer of functions under subsection (a) unless the Secretary determines, and certifies in writing to the Committee on Armed Services of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Armed Services of the Senate, that each of the conditions specified in paragraph (2) has been met. Such a transfer may then be made only after a period of 30 days has elapsed after the date on which the certification is received by those committees. That the Office of Personnel Management is fully capable of carrying out high-priority investigations required by the Secretary of Defense within a timeframe set by the Secretary of Defense. That the Office of Personnel Management has undertaken necessary and satisfactory steps to ensure that investigations performed on Department of Defense contract personnel will be conducted in an expeditious manner sufficient to ensure that those contract personnel are available to the Department of Defense within a timeframe set by the Secretary of Defense. That the Department of Defense will retain capabilities in the form of Federal employees to monitor and investigate Department of Defense and contractor personnel as necessary to perform counterintelligence functions and polygraph activities of the Department. That the authority to adjudicate background investigations will remain with the Department of Defense and that the transfer of Defense Security Service personnel to the Office of Personnel Management will improve the speed and efficiency of the adjudication process. That the Department of Defense will retain within the Defense Security Service sufficient personnel and capabilities to improve Department of Defense industrial security programs and practices. the Defense Security Service employees who perform those functions immediately before the transfer of functions; and the Defense Security Service employees who, as of such time, are first level supervisors of employees transferred under subparagraph (A). determines that the transfer of such additional employees and the positions of such employees to the Office of Personnel Management is necessary in the interest of effective performance of the transferred functions; and accepts the transfer of the additional employees. the grade retention period shall be the one-year period beginning on the date of the transfer; and paragraphs (1), (2), and (3) of such subsection (c) shall not apply to the employee; and the employee may not be separated, other than pursuant to chapter 75 of title 5, United States Code, during such one-year period. Not later than one year after a transfer of functions to the Office of Personnel Management under subsection (a), the Director of the Office of Personnel Management, in coordination with the Secretary of Defense, shall review all functions performed by personnel of the Defense Security Service at the time of the transfer and make a written determination regarding whether each such function is inherently governmental or is otherwise inappropriate for performance by contractor personnel. the Director reviews the function in accordance with the requirements of paragraph (1) and makes a written determination that the function is not inherently governmental and is not otherwise inappropriate for contractor performance; and the Director conducts a public-private competition regarding the performance of that function in accordance with the requirements of the Office of Management and Budget Circular A–76.” Notwithstanding any other provision of law, an agency or other employing entity of the Government which provides or plans to provide a flexible spending account option for its employees shall not impose any fee with respect to any of its employees in order to defray the administrative costs associated therewith. Each such agency or employing entity that offers a flexible spending account option under a program established or administered by the Office of Personnel Management shall periodically forward to such Office, or entity designated by such Office, the amount necessary to offset the administrative costs of such program which are attributable to such agency. The Office shall submit a report to the Committee on Government Reform [now Committee on Oversight and Accountability] of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Governmental Affairs [now Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs] of the Senate no later than March 31, 2004 , specifying the administrative costs associated with the Governmentwide program (referred to in subsection (b)) for fiscal year 2003, as well as the projected administrative costs of such program for each of the 5 fiscal years thereafter. At the end of each of the first 3 calendar years in which an agency or other employing entity offers a flexible spending account option under this section, such agency or entity shall submit a report to the Office of Management and Budget showing the amount of its employment tax savings in such year which are attributable to such option, net of administrative fees paid under subsection (b).” None of the funds appropriated by this Act, or any other Act in this or any fiscal year hereafter, may be used in preparing, promulgating, or implementing any regulations relating to the Combined Federal Campaign if such regulations are not in conformance with subsection (b). Any requirements for eligibility to receive contributions through the Combined Federal Campaign shall not, to the extent that such requirements relate to litigation, public-policy advocacy, or attempting to influence legislation, be any more restrictive than any requirements established with respect to those subject matters under section 501(c)(3) or 501(h) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 [ 26 U.S.C. 501(c)(3) , (h)]. Any requirements for eligibility to receive contributions through the Combined Federal Campaign shall, to the extent that such requirements relate to any subject matter other than one referred to in subparagraph (A), remain the same as the criteria in the 1984 regulations, except as otherwise provided in this section. any voluntary agency or federated group which was a named plaintiff as of September 1, 1987 , in a case brought in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia, and designated as Civil Action No. 83–0928 or 86–1367, and The Federal Employee Education and Assistance Fund, Public accountability standards shall remain similar to the standards which were by regulation established with respect to the 1984–1987 Combined Federal Campaigns, except that the Office of Personnel Management shall prescribe regulations under which a voluntary agency or federated group which does not exceed a certain size (as established under such regulations) may submit a copy of an appropriate Federal tax return, rather than complying with any independent auditing requirements which would otherwise apply. complies with all requirements for eligibility to receive contributions through the Combined Federal Campaign, without regard to any requirements relating to ‘local presence’; and 15 or more different States over the 3-year period immediately preceding the start of the year involved; or several foreign countries or several parts of a foreign country. Notwithstanding any other provisions, eligibility requirements relating to International Services Agencies shall remain at least as inclusive as existing requirements. Any voluntary agency or federated group which attains national eligibility under subparagraph (A), and any voluntary agency which is a member of the International Services Agencies, shall be considered to have satisfied any requirements relating to ‘local presence’. If a federated group is eligible to receive donations in a Combined Federal Campaign, whether on a national level (pursuant to certification by the Office) or a local level (pursuant to certification by the local Federal coordinating committee), each voluntary agency which is a member of such group may, upon certification by the federated group, be considered eligible to participate on such national or local level, as the case may be. the Office may require a voluntary agency to provide information to support any certification submitted by a federated group with respect to such agency under subparagraph (A); and if a determination is made, in writing after notice and opportunity to submit written comments, that the information submitted by the voluntary agency does not satisfy the applicable eligibility requirements, such agency may be barred from participating in the Combined Federal Campaign on a national or local level, as the case may be, for a period not to exceed 1 campaign year. regulations are uniformly and equitably implemented in all local combined Federal campaigns; federated groups participating in a local combined Federal campaign are allowed to compete fairly for the role of principal combined fund organization; adequate opportunity to consult with the PCFO for the area involved before any plans are made final relating to the design or conduct of such campaign (including plans pertaining to any materials to be printed as part of the campaign); adequate opportunity to participate in campaign events and other related activities; and timely access to all reports, budgets, audits, and other records in the possession of, or under the control of, the PCFO for the areas involved; and a federated group or voluntary agency found by the Office, by a written decision issued after notice and opportunity to submit written comments, to have violated the regulations may be barred from serving as a PCFO for not to exceed 1 campaign year. The Office shall prescribe regulations to ensure that PCFOs do not make inappropriate delegations of decisionmaking authority. The Office shall, in consultation with federated groups, establish a formula under which any undesignated contributions received in a local combined Federal campaign shall be allocated in any year. 82 percent shall be allocated to the United Way. 7 percent shall be allocated to the International Services Agencies. 7 percent shall be allocated to the National Voluntary Health Agencies. National federated groups (other than any identified in clauses (i), (ii), or (iii)), except that a national federated group shall not be eligible under this subclause unless there are at least 15 members of such group participating in the local campaign, unless the members of such group collectively receive at least 4 percent of the designated contributions in the local campaign, and unless such group was granted national eligibility status for the 1987, 1988, 1989, or 1990 Combined Federal Campaign. Local federated groups. Any local, non-affiliated voluntary agency which receives at least 4 percent of the designated contributions in the local campaign. shall be phased in over the course of the 1988 and 1989 Combined Federal Campaigns; shall be fully implemented with respect to the 1990 Combined Federal Campaigns [sic]; and shall, with respect to any Combined Federal Campaign thereafter, be adjusted based on the experience gained in the Combined Federal Campaigns referred to in clauses (i) and (ii). Nothing in this paragraph shall apply with respect to any campaign conducted in a foreign country. All appropriate steps shall be taken to encourage donors to make designated contributions. The option for a donor to write in the name of a voluntary agency or federated group not listed in the campaign brochure to receive that individual’s contribution in a local campaign shall be eliminated. The name of any individual making a designated contribution in a campaign shall, upon request of the recipient voluntary agency or federated group, be released to such agency or group, unless the contributor indicates that his or her name is not to be released. Under no circumstance may the names of contributors be sold or otherwise released by such agency or group. The name of each participating voluntary agency and federated group, together with a brief description of their respective programs, shall be published in any information leaflet distributed to employees in a local combined Federal campaign. Agencies shall be arranged by federated group, with combined Federal campaign organization code numbers corresponding to each such agency and group. The requirement under subparagraph (A) relating to the inclusion of program descriptions may, at the discretion of a local Federal coordinating committee, be waived for a local campaign in any year if, in the immediately preceding campaign year, contributions received through the local campaign totalled less than $100,000. Employee coercion is not to be tolerated in the Combined Federal Campaign, and protections against employee coercion shall be strengthened and clarified. may not, after the date of the enactment of this Act [ Dec. 22, 1987 ], grant national eligibility status to any federated group unless such group has at least 15 member voluntary agencies, each of which meets the requirements for national eligibility under paragraph (2)(A); and may withdraw federation status from any federated group for a period of not to exceed 1 campaign year if it is determined, on the record after opportunity for a hearing, that the federated group has not complied with the regulatory requirements. The Office may bar from participation in the Combined Federal Campaign, for a period not to exceed 1 campaign year, any voluntary agency which the Office determines, in writing, and after notice and opportunity to submit written comments, did not comply with a reasonable request by the Office to furnish it with information relating to such agency’s campaign accounting and auditing practices. For purposes of this section, a voluntary agency or federated group having ‘national eligibility’ is one which is eligible to participate in each local domestic combined Federal campaign.” in order to provide the people of the United States with a competent, honest, and productive Federal work force reflective of the Nation’s diversity, and to improve the quality of public service, Federal personnel management should be implemented consistent with merit system principles and free from prohibited personnel practices; the merit system principles which shall govern in the competitive service and in the executive branch of the Federal Government should be expressly stated to furnish guidance to Federal agencies in carrying out their responsibilities in administering the public business, and prohibited personnel practices should be statutorily defined to enable Federal employees to avoid conduct which undermines the merit system principles and the integrity of the merit system; Federal employees should receive appropriate protection through increasing the authority and powers of the Merit Systems Protection Board in processing hearings and appeals affecting Federal employees; the authority and power of the Special Counsel should be increased so that the Special Counsel may investigate allegations involving prohibited personnel practices and reprisals against Federal employees for the lawful disclosure of certain information and may file complaints against agency officials and employees who engage in such conduct; the function of filling positions and other personnel functions in the competitive service and in the executive branch should be delegated in appropriate cases to the agencies to expedite processing appointments and other personnel actions, with the control and oversight of this delegation being maintained by the Office of Personnel Management to protect against prohibited personnel practices and the use of unsound management practices by the agencies; a Senior Executive Service should be established to provide the flexibility needed by agencies to recruit and retain the highly competent and qualified executives needed to provide more effective management of agencies and their functions, and the more expeditious administration of the public business; in appropriate instances, pay increases should be based on quality of performance rather than length of service; research programs and demonstration projects should be authorized to permit Federal agencies to experiment, subject to congressional oversight, with new and different personnel management concepts in controlled situations to achieve more efficient management of the Government’s human resources and greater productivity in the delivery of service to the public; the training program of the Government should include retraining of employees for positions in other agencies to avoid separations during reductions in force and the loss to the Government of the knowledge and experience that these employees possess; and the right of Federal employees to organize, bargain collectively, and participate through labor organizations in decisions which affect them, with full regard for the public interest and the effective conduct of public business, should be specifically recognized in statute.” limit, curtail, abolish, or terminate any function of, or authority available to, the President which the President had immediately before the effective date of this Act [see Effective Date of 1978 Amendment note above]; or limit, curtail, or terminate the President’s authority to delegate, redelegate, or terminate any delegation of functions.”