ALJ Competitive Service Restoration Act

II 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 Secu- rity 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 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 ‘‘§ 3105. Appointment of administrative law judges 9 ‘‘(a) APPOINTMENT.— 10 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:54 Aug 08, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2348.IS S2348 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •S 2348 IS ‘‘(1) AUTHORITY.—The head of each Executive 1 department and agency shall appoint as many ad- 2 ministrative law judges as are necessary for pro- 3 ceedings required to be conducted in accordance with 4 sections 556 and 557. 5 ‘‘(2) SELECTION; EXAMINATION.—Administra- 6 tive law judges shall be appointed by the head of an 7 Executive department or an agency from a list of eli- 8 gible candidates provided by the Office of Personnel 9 Management based upon successful examination and 10 approval of the qualifications of the individual by the 11 Office. 12 ‘‘(b) MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS AND CONDITIONS 13 OF EMPLOYMENT.— 14 ‘‘(1) LICENSURE.—At the time of application 15 for a position and while serving as an administrative 16 law judge, the individual must possess a professional 17 license to practice law under the laws of a State, the 18 District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto 19 Rico, or any territorial court. 20 ‘‘(2) QUALIFYING EXPERIENCE.—To be eligible 21 to serve as an administrative law judge, an indi- 22 vidual shall have not less than 7 years of experience 23 as a licensed attorney litigating or adjudicating for- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:54 Aug 08, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2348.IS S2348 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •S 2348 IS 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 shall 17 report directly to the chief administrative law judge 18 (if any) of the Executive department or agency at 19 which the administrative law judge is appointed. If 20 there is no chief administrative law judge, the ad- 21 ministrative law judge shall report directly to the 22 head of the 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 00:54 Aug 08, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2348.IS S2348 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •S 2348 IS gate the ability or independence of an administrative 1 law judge in carrying out the duties and responsibil- 2 ities of 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 17 judge— 18 (1) shall not be subject to subchapter I or II of 19 chapter 75 of title 5, United States Code; and 20 (2) shall be subject to the requirements of sub- 21 chapter III of that chapter. 22 (d) CONVERSION OF POSITIONS.—With respect to 23 any individual serving on the date of the enactment of this 24 Act in an excepted service position as an administrative 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:54 Aug 08, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2348.IS S2348 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •S 2348 IS law judge appointed under section 3105 of title 5, United 1 States Code, as in effect on the day before the date of 2 enactment of this Act, not later than 30 days after the 3 date of enactment of this Act, the head of an Executive 4 department listed in section 101 of title 5, United States 5 Code, or the agency employing the administrative law 6 judge shall convert the appointment to a permanent ap- 7 pointment in the competitive service in the Executive de- 8 partment or agency, as applicable. 9 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:54 Aug 08, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S2348.IS S2348 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS