Representative Ken Calvert (R-CA) announced he has reintroduced legislation aimed at creating a more efficient civilian workforce at the Department of Defense. The cleverly-named REDUCE ACT "Rebalance for an Effective Defense Uniform and Civilian Employees Act, (H.R. 916), would require the DOD to make civilian workforce reductions in a systematic manner without compromising our ability to maintain a strong national defense over the long term."
It is estimated that more than 100,000 emloyees and an unspecified number of private contractors could be affected by the legislation.
According to Calvert, "The REDUCE Act forces the Defense Department to right-size its civilian employee-to-servicemember ratio imbalance through attrition and thereby saving an estimated $125 billion.”
The requirements of the REDUCE Act will accomplish the following:
Reduce our Defense civilian workforce by 15% by FY 2025. The Department of Defense civilian workforce would remain at or below this established cap of a 15% reduction for Fiscal Years 2025 through 2029.
The Department of Defense civilian Senior Executive Service career appointee workforce will be reduced to 1,000 by 2025 and remain at or below 1,000 employees for Fiscal Years 2025 through 2029.
Provide the Secretary of Defense the authority to use voluntary separation incentive payments and voluntary early retirement payments in order to achieve the required reductions in personnel.
Provide the Secretary of Defense the authority to assign greater weight to job performance versus tenure in a Reduction in Force then the Secretary currently has.
This bill will wind its way through the Committes and may be significant as the Biden Administration seeks to use a portion of the existing military budget to fund social justice programs.
Change is coming. There will always be a tomorrow, no matter how much you may try to ignore it. There are no guarantees in life or promises for a bright future. Just because something bad hasn't happened yet, doesn't mean it won't. It can happen to anyone, anytime, anywhere. No one is guaranteed to wake up tomorrow and still have a job by evening. Are you now wondering, Am I Next?