A federal judge has barred the Department of Homeland Security from
implementing major portions of its new personnel system.
When DHS was created, Congress gave the secretary of DHS and the
director of the Office of Personnel Management the unusual authority
to develop a separate human-resources management system. That authority,
according to court documents, was not bound by “the constraints
imposed by the civil service laws that normally govern employees
in the competitive service of the federal government.”
Congress mandated that the system be flexible and ensure the ability
of employees to bargain collectively. A slew of unions, which collectively
represent approximately 60,000 DHS employees, challenged the regulations
for allegedly failing to comply with these congressional requirements
and for creating disciplinary methods exceeding the authority of
the DHS agencies.
The district court judge for the District of Columbia, Rosemary
M. Collyer, ruled in August that “significant aspects of the
human-resources system fail to conform to the express dictates of
the Homeland Security Act,” which created the department.
Specifically, she enjoined DHS from implementing the entire labor-management
relations section of the new regulations, as well as a section dealing
with employee appeals that precluded mitigation of penalties except
in cases where the “penalty is so disproportionate to the
basis for the action as to be wholly without justification.”
DHS cannot implement the portions of its regulations unless an
appellate court overturns this ruling on appeal. Alternatively,
DHS can also choose to issue entirely new regulations.
The unions and employee-advocacy groups hailed the injunction as
a needed protection for workers’ rights, but opponents said
that the lack of penalties for poorly performing DHS employees would
degrade the department and make employees less accountable for their
actions.
DHS employees will continue to be covered by existing provisions
until the matter is settled.
The Department of Homeland Security is releasing a series of requests
for technologies that can reveal what vessels are approaching U.S.
shores and what they are carrying. The requests illustrate holes
in existing port and maritime protection, and what DHS officials
envision for the nation’s future waterside security, said
Coast Guard Cmdr. Joseph Vojvodich, portfolio manger for maritime
domain-awareness research.
“It’s not enough to collect more data or radar dots,”
he said.
A particular emphasis needs to be put on standoff-detection devices
that can sniff out contraband at more than 50 feet. Tools to identify
people and ships also are necessary, including cooperative and uncooperative
vessels.
The science and technology directorate at DHS is starting several
programs to fill some of these gaps, said Leslee Shumway, DHS’
program manager for maritime research and development.
New projects include a command-sector simulation that can train
commanders how to process reams of data. The simulation also will
serve as a test bed for new data integration tools in development,
she said. Another urgently anticipated project is a blue-force tracking
system to chart the deployment of friendly forces in a busy environment.
The system, when developed, will be demonstrated in the Port of
New York, Shumway added.
Other programs include an ambient radar-tracking system, a portable
entanglement net to bring non-lethal stopping power to boats and
helicopters, and new sensors for the P-3 Orion aircraft used by
customs officials.