ALJ Competitive Service Restoration Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 2429 To restore administrative law judges to the competitive service, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MAY 1, 2019 Mr. CUMMINGS (for himself, Mr. FITZPATRICK, Mr. NEAL, Mr. RODNEY DAVIS of Illinois, Mr. CONNOLLY, Mr. DANNY K. DAVIS of Illinois, Mr. SCOTT of Virginia, Mr. LARSON of Connecticut, Mr. COLE, and Mr. SMITH of New Jersey) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Oversight and Reform A BILL To restore administrative law judges to the competitive service, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘ALJ Competitive Serv- 4 ice Restoration Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. APPOINTMENT OF ADMINISTRATIVE LAW JUDGES. 6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 3105 of title 5, United 7 States Code is amended to read as follows: 8 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:39 May 04, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2429.IH H2429 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •HR 2429 IH ‘‘§ 3105. Appointment of administrative law judges 1 ‘‘(a) APPOINTMENT.— 2 ‘‘(1) AUTHORITY.—The head of each Executive 3 department and agency shall appoint as many ad- 4 ministrative law judges as are necessary for pro- 5 ceedings required to be conducted in accordance with 6 sections 556 and 557. 7 ‘‘(2) SELECTION; EXAMINATION.—Administra- 8 tive law judges shall be appointed by the head of an 9 Executive department or an agency from a list of eli- 10 gible candidates provided by the Office of Personnel 11 Management based upon successful examination and 12 approval of the qualifications of the individual by the 13 Office. 14 ‘‘(b) MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS AND CONDITIONS 15 OF EMPLOYMENT.— 16 ‘‘(1) LICENSURE.—At the time of application 17 for a position and while serving as an administrative 18 law judge, the individual must possess a professional 19 license to practice law under the laws of a State, the 20 District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto 21 Rico, or any territorial court. 22 ‘‘(2) QUALIFYING EXPERIENCE.—To be eligible 23 to serve as an administrative law judge, an indi- 24 vidual shall have not less than 7 years of experience 25 as a licensed attorney litigating or adjudicating for- 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:39 May 04, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2429.IH H2429 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •HR 2429 IH mal hearings or trials involving civil, criminal, or ad- 1 ministrative law at the Federal, State, or local level. 2 ‘‘(c) COMPETITIVE SERVICE.—Administrative law 3 judge positions shall be positions in the competitive serv- 4 ice. 5 ‘‘(d) ASSIGNMENT.—Administrative law judges shall 6 be assigned to cases in rotation as far as practicable, and 7 may not perform duties inconsistent with their duties and 8 responsibilities as administrative law judges. 9 ‘‘(e) AUTHORITY AND ROLE OF ADMINISTRATIVE 10 LAW JUDGES IN RELATION TO EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT 11 OR AGENCY HEADS.— 12 ‘‘(1) CHIEF ALJ.—A chief administrative law 13 judge shall report directly to the head of the Execu- 14 tive department or agency at which the chief is ap- 15 pointed. 16 ‘‘(2) ALJ.—An administrative law judge (in 17 this paragraph referred to as an ‘ALJ’) shall report 18 directly to the chief administrative law judge (if any) 19 of the Executive department or agency at which the 20 ALJ is appointed. If there is no chief administrative 21 law judge, the ALJ shall report directly to the head 22 of such Executive department or agency. 23 ‘‘(3) CLARIFICATION.—Nothing in this sub- 24 section shall be construed to limit or otherwise miti- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:39 May 04, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2429.IH H2429 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •HR 2429 IH gate the ability or independence of an administrative 1 law judge in carrying out his or her duties and re- 2 sponsibilities as an administrative law judge.’’. 3 (b) EXEMPTION FROM PROBATIONARY PERIOD.— 4 Section 3321(c) of title 5, United States Code, is amended 5 to read as follows: 6 ‘‘(c) Subsections (a) and (b) of this section shall not 7 apply with respect to appointments in the Senior Execu- 8 tive Service, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and 9 Drug Enforcement Administration Senior Executive Serv- 10 ice, any individual covered by section 1599e of title 10, 11 or any individual appointed to an administrative law judge 12 position.’’. 13 (c) CLARIFICATION OF APPLICATION OF DISCIPLI- 14 NARY PROCEDURES.—Notwithstanding the amendments 15 made by this Act that classify administrative law judges 16 within the competitive service, an administrative law judge 17 shall not be subject to subchapter I or II of chapter 75 18 of title 5, United States Code, and shall be subject to the 19 requirements of subchapter III of such chapter. 20 (d) CONVERSION OF POSITIONS.—With respect to 21 any individual serving on the date of the enactment of this 22 Act in an excepted service position as an administrative 23 law judge appointed under section 3105 of title 5, United 24 States Code, as in effect on the day before the date of 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:39 May 04, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2429.IH H2429 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •HR 2429 IH the enactment of this Act, not later than 30 days after 1 such date of enactment, the head of an Executive depart- 2 ment or the agency employing the administrative law 3 judge shall convert the appointment to a permanent ap- 4 pointment in the competitive service in the agency. 5 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:39 May 04, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H2429.IH H2429 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS