Senate lawmakers want to give the Defense Department new tools in fiscal 2027 to recruit and retain cyber talent, limit the department’s ability to carry out workforce reductions and establish a program to retain high-performing supervisors and managers across the department.
The Senate Armed Services Committee’s version of the fiscal 2027 defense policy bill includes several Pentagon-backed civilian workforce initiatives while adding protections for civilian employees at some DoD organizations and increasing congressional oversight of workforce reductions.
Attracting cyber talent
Among the proposals is a provision that would make it easier for employees to move between the cyber excepted service (CES) and the competitive service.
While the cyber interagency transfer authority permits employees to move between the excepted service and the competitive service, some cyber workers serving in CES positions on permanent excepted service appointments still cannot be appointed to competitive service positions without having to compete as external, non-federal applicants. The proposal, however, would expand the transfer agreement authority departmentwide.
Lawmakers are also seeking to shorten the probationary period for employees in the CES from three years to two years, aligning it more closely with other personnel systems.
The Defense Department said that a disparate probationary period “undermines morale and can hinder recruitment of highly qualified candidates.”
Both proposals appeared in the Defense Department’s fiscal 2027 legislative proposal package it submitted to Congress in April.
Workforce reduction protections
The committee’s bill includes several provisions aimed at blocking future layoffs of DoD civilians.
One measure would ban the Defense Department’s use of fiscal 2027 funds to carry out hiring freezes, reductions in force or hiring delays at public shipyards.
A similar provision would extend those protections to organizations funded by a working capital fund.
The Defense Department lost nearly 10% of its civilian workforce in 2025, but DoD’s workforce reductions did not begin last year — the Government Accountability Office found that many components had programmed reductions to their civilian workforces between fiscal 2023 and 2025.
“If you look across the three fiscal years, overall, about 22 of the 40 components did program some reductions, so we were seeing some reductions across the board. Beginning in 2025, the department outside of the normal budgeting process implemented several workforce reduction measures,” Kristy Williams, director of defense capabilities and management at GAO, told Federal News Network.
“Overall, DoD civilian workforce decreased by just under 10% from January 1, 2025, to January 1, 2026. That was quite a reduction to the civilian workforce, and I think this is particularly important because if you look big picture at the number of civilians that the department employs, these civilians are carrying out some fundamental missions for the department, whether it’s caring for active duty soldiers and their dependents, managing weapon systems and facilities, providing logistics support — there’s a range of activities,” she added.
Lawmakers also want the Defense Department to notify Congress at least 45 days before approving any changes to the civilian workforce that would result in a reduction in force of 50 or more full-time personnel.
Telework, remote work transparency
The legislation would also require the Defense Department to disclose whether vacant positions at the Defense Department are eligible for telework or remote work, and whether exemptions for return to in-person work are available to applicants.
The measure also encourages the Defense Department to “consider, consistent with merit system principles and mission requirements, the use of telework and remote work flexibilities to support the employment of military spouses.”
While the Office of Personnel Management “categorically” exempted federally employed military spouses from the Trump administration’s return-to-office mandate last year, military spouses have faced challenges requesting telework or remote work arrangements.
Pilot program to retain high performers
In an effort to retain top civilian leaders, Senate lawmakers want the defense secretary to launch a five-year pilot program that would allow the defense secretary to issue bonuses and other incentives to high-performing supervisors and managers. Performance metrics would be established by the defense secretary, according to the bill.
The pilot would be limited to no more than 250 positions at any time.
Expanded pay authority for DIB workforce
The defense industrial base faces severe labor shortages. One way Senate lawmakers are trying to address the issue is by giving the defense secretary broad authority to set pay based on private sector wages.
“The committee recommends a provision that would establish the pay of wage-grade employees located at any defense industrial base facility, in order to make rates of pay comparable to the private sector and surrounding areas,” fiscal 2027 reporting language reads.
If you would like to contact this reporter about recent changes in the federal government, please email anastasia.obis@federalnewsnetwork.com or reach out on Signal at (301) 830-2747.
Copyright
© 2026 Federal News Network. All rights reserved. This website is not intended for users located within the European Economic Area.
