PlainBillCongress, translated.Legislation. Context. Public interest.Referred to the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, and in addition to the Committees on Natural Resources, and Agriculture, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
Congressional Research Service
Version 00 · Introduced in House · Feb 12, 2025
Hire Veterans Act
This bill requires the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) to establish a five-year pilot program to recruit veterans with relevant strengths and abilities and refer them to positions in federal land management agencies (e.g., the National Park Service).
OPM shall conduct tests of certain strengths and abilities for veterans participating in the program. After testing, federal land management agencies may offer non-competitive career-conditional appointments to such veterans demonstrating necessary strengths and abilities. Such agencies may also refer veterans not demonstrating sufficient strengths and abilities in the tests to training programs, and then re-administer such tests until the veteran qualifies for a non-competitive career-conditional appointment.
People & committees
Rep. Crane, Elijah [R-AZ-2] · R–AZ
Legislative record
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Referred to the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, and in addition to the Committees on Natural Resources, and Agriculture, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
Referred to the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, and in addition to the Committees on Natural Resources, and Agriculture, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
Referred to the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, and in addition to the Committees on Natural Resources, and Agriculture, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Primary sources
Text links open the official source. We also preserved the text version used in the PlainBill explanation below.
No related bills are listed in this snapshot. This does not establish whether the proposal has appeared in earlier Congresses.
Source last updated: Sep 2, 2026. Consult Congress.gov for the current record.
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PlainBill explanation
Based on the full Introduced in House · 2025-02-12 text. This explanation has not received human editorial review. This overview describes the proposal’s major provisions; it does not establish what its real-world effects would be.
The proposed Hire Veterans Act would create a temporary program to help veterans qualify for and obtain jobs at five federal land management agencies. Agencies would test applicants’ abilities, could hire qualified veterans through a special hiring process, and would direct those who do not qualify to training and retesting. Hiring would remain discretionary. The program would end five years after it starts.
This Act may be cited as the Hire Veterans Act.
shall establish a pilot program to recruit veterans with relevant strengths and abilities and refer the veterans to supervisory or nonsupervisory positions in Federal land management agencies.
The term Federal land management agency means— (A) the Forest Service; (B) the National Park Service; (C) the United States Fish and Wildlife Service; (D) the Bureau of Land Management; or (E) the Bureau of Reclamation.
shall refer the veteran to a recruiter of that Federal land management agency for participation in a training program that the agency shall establish for the purposes of this section
shall, after the participation by the veteran in a training program described in subparagraph (A), re-administer that test, for the purpose of re-evaluation, to the veteran as frequently as the head of the Federal land management agency determines appropriate until the veteran demonstrates through the test the necessary strengths and abilities
may, if the veteran has demonstrated through the test the necessary strengths and abilities, make a noncompetitive career-conditional appointment of the veteran to a position in such a career field.
The pilot program shall terminate on the date that is 5 years after the date on which the Director establishes the pilot program.
The Director of the Office of Personnel Management would have to establish the program within one year after enactment, consulting the Secretaries of Veterans Affairs, the Interior, and Agriculture. It would cover both supervisory and nonsupervisory jobs.
The term Director means the Director of the Office of Personnel Management.
Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, the Director (in consultation with the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, the Secretary of the Interior, and the Secretary of Agriculture) shall establish a pilot program to recruit veterans with relevant strengths and abilities and refer the veterans to supervisory or nonsupervisory positions in Federal land management agencies.
The participating agencies would be the Forest Service, National Park Service, United States Fish and Wildlife Service, Bureau of Land Management, and Bureau of Reclamation. Eligibility as a veteran would follow an existing statutory definition that is not reproduced in the bundle.
The term Federal land management agency means— (A) the Forest Service; (B) the National Park Service; (C) the United States Fish and Wildlife Service; (D) the Bureau of Land Management; or (E) the Bureau of Reclamation.
The term veteran has the meaning given the term in section 101 of title 38, United States Code.
The Office of Personnel Management would publicize the program on its website. Veterans would have to apply to its Director using the form, submission method, and information the Director requires.
The Director shall publicize, and disseminate information about, the pilot program on the website of the Office of Personnel Management.
A veteran seeking to participate in the pilot program shall submit to the Director an application in such form, in such manner, and containing such information as the Director may require.
Within 180 days after enactment, the Director would have to issue guidance for developing tests of veterans’ job-related strengths and abilities, consulting the Secretaries of Veterans Affairs, the Interior, and Agriculture.
Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Director (in consultation with the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, the Secretary of the Interior, and the Secretary of Agriculture) shall issue guidance on the development of individual tests to be administered for the purposes of the pilot program to determine the strengths and abilities of veterans for positions in the following career fields at Federal land management agencies
The program would cover 22 listed career fields. These range from recreation, volunteer management, firefighting, and aviation to engineering, environmental and physical sciences, land and water management, analysis of location-based data, and finance, budget, and administration.
(A) Outdoor recreation management. (B) Management of volunteers. (C) Fire planning and fire analysis. (D) Firefighting. (E) Aviation. (F) Forest engineering. (G) Inventory monitoring of land under the management of a Federal land management agency. (H) Landscape restoration. (I) Ecology. (J) Sustainability of ecosystems. (K) Archeology. (L) Range management. (M) Analysis of geospatial data. (N) Biology. (O) Geology. (P) Land use. (Q) Physical sciences. (R) Civil Engineering. (S) Hydrology. (T) Land surveying. (U) Water reclamation. (V) Finance, budget, and administration.
For covered jobs, the Director could waive a requirement for a recognized postsecondary credential—an education or training qualification defined in another law—if the Director finds the waiver necessary. The Director would consult the Secretary of Agriculture or the Interior, as appropriate.
The term recognized postsecondary credential has the meaning given the term in section 3 of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (29 U.S.C. 3102).
For purposes of the pilot program, the Director (in consultation with, as appropriate, the Secretary of Agriculture or the Secretary of the Interior) may waive any requirement for a recognized postsecondary credential for a position in a career field described in paragraph (1), if the Director determines that such a waiver is necessary.
Agency heads would have to test each veteran applying to participate, develop assessments of applicants’ relative capacity and fitness for covered jobs, and refer each applicant to the federal government’s official employment website.
The head of a Federal land management agency shall— (A) administer a test developed described in paragraph (1) to each veteran who applies for participation in the pilot program; (B) develop assessments to measure the relative capacity and fitness of veterans described in subparagraph (A) of this paragraph for positions in the career fields described in paragraph (1); and (C) refer each veteran described in subparagraph (A) to the official employment website of the Federal Government.
After consulting the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, an agency head could hire a tested veteran for a vacant covered job if the agency head determines the veteran demonstrated the necessary abilities. Hiring would be optional and would use a career-conditional appointment. The special noncompetitive process would bypass the specified federal appointment rules, except sections 3303 and 3328.
The head of a Federal land management agency (in consultation with the Secretary of Veterans Affairs), with respect to a veteran who has taken a test administered under subsection (d)(3)(A)— (1) if the veteran has demonstrated through the test the necessary strengths and abilities for a vacant supervisory or nonsupervisory position in a career field covered by the pilot program in the Federal land management agency, as determined by the head of the Federal land management agency, may make a noncompetitive career-conditional appointment of the veteran to that vacant position
The term noncompetitive, when used with respect to an appointment, means an appointment made without regard to subchapter I of chapter 33 of title 5, United States Code, other than sections 3303 and 3328 of that title.
If an agency head determines that a tested veteran lacks the abilities needed for a vacant covered job, the agency would have to refer the veteran to a recruiter for an agency-established training program. After participation, the agency would have to retest the veteran as often as the agency head considers appropriate until the veteran demonstrates the necessary abilities. Hiring afterward would still be optional.
if the veteran has not demonstrated through the test the necessary strengths and abilities for a vacant supervisory or nonsupervisory position in a career field covered by the pilot program in the Federal land management agency, as determined by the head of the Federal land management agency— (A) shall refer the veteran to a recruiter of that Federal land management agency for participation in a training program that the agency shall establish for the purposes of this section, which shall provide the veteran with the strengths and abilities for a position in such a career field
(B) shall, after the participation by the veteran in a training program described in subparagraph (A), re-administer that test, for the purpose of re-evaluation, to the veteran as frequently as the head of the Federal land management agency determines appropriate until the veteran demonstrates through the test the necessary strengths and abilities; and (C) may, if the veteran has demonstrated through the test the necessary strengths and abilities, make a noncompetitive career-conditional appointment of the veteran to a position in such a career field.
The Director, consulting the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, would have to develop a method to oversee and manage veterans’ employment in the covered agency career fields.
The Director (in consultation with the Secretary of Veterans Affairs) shall develop a method to oversee and manage the employment of veterans within Federal land management agencies in positions in the career fields that are covered by the pilot program.
The Director would have to report to six designated congressional committees within one year after enactment and annually until the program ends, consulting the Secretary of Veterans Affairs and participating agency heads.
Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter until the termination of the pilot program, the Director (in consultation with the Secretary of Veterans Affairs and the heads of the Federal land management agencies) shall submit to the appropriate committees of Congress a report on the pilot program.
The term appropriate committees of Congress means— (A) the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs of the Senate; (B) the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry of the Senate; (C) the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of the Senate; (D) the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs of the House of Representatives; (E) the Committee on Agriculture of the House of Representatives; and (F) the Committee on Natural Resources of the House of Representatives.
The program would end five years after the Director establishes it. That five-year period would run from establishment, rather than enactment.
The pilot program shall terminate on the date that is 5 years after the date on which the Director establishes the pilot program.
The supplied actions snapshot, updated September 2, 2026, records introduction in the House on February 12, 2025, and referral that day to the Committees on Oversight and Government Reform, Natural Resources, and Agriculture.
Source snapshot updated 2026-09-02T08:06:38Z.
2025-02-12: Introduced in House
2025-02-12: Referred to the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, and in addition to the Committees on Natural Resources, and Agriculture, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
A closer look
Reviewed version: Introduced in House · 2025-02-12. These findings describe provisions and who may benefit; they are not judgments of waste, corruption, or motive.
This review covers the supplied bill text. “None identified” does not rule out provisions in later versions or accompanying reports and disclosures.
Provisions outside the bill’s main subject, or policy changes attached to appropriations.
None identified in the reviewed text
No unrelated provision or policy change attached to appropriations was identified in the complete supplied introduced text. This conclusion does not establish absence in other versions or accompanying materials.
Spending directed to particular recipients or places outside ordinary competitive or formula-based allocation.
None identified in the reviewed text
No congressionally directed spending for particular recipients or places was identified in the complete supplied introduced text. This conclusion is limited to that version and does not establish absence in accompanying materials.
Narrow exceptions, exemptions, or preferential treatment that warrant a closer look.
Findings to examine
The text provides special hiring treatment and a possible qualification waiver within the bill’s main policy. These are substantive preferences, not findings of improper intent.
Veterans who demonstrate the required abilities for covered agency jobs could receive noncompetitive appointments that bypass specified federal hiring rules. This preference directly implements the bill’s veteran employment policy; an appointment would remain discretionary.
if the veteran has demonstrated through the test the necessary strengths and abilities for a vacant supervisory or nonsupervisory position in a career field covered by the pilot program in the Federal land management agency, as determined by the head of the Federal land management agency, may make a noncompetitive career-conditional appointment of the veteran to that vacant position
The term noncompetitive, when used with respect to an appointment, means an appointment made without regard to subchapter I of chapter 33 of title 5, United States Code, other than sections 3303 and 3328 of that title.
Veterans participating in the pilot could benefit from a waiver of a recognized postsecondary credential requirement for a covered position. The Director would have to find the waiver necessary and consult the relevant Secretary as appropriate. This exception is part of the bill’s employment policy.
shall establish a pilot program to recruit veterans with relevant strengths and abilities and refer the veterans to supervisory or nonsupervisory positions in Federal land management agencies.
For purposes of the pilot program, the Director (in consultation with, as appropriate, the Secretary of Agriculture or the Secretary of the Interior) may waive any requirement for a recognized postsecondary credential for a position in a career field described in paragraph (1), if the Director determines that such a waiver is necessary.
Full text preserved for this analysis. Legislative record snapshot: Sep 2, 2026. How PlainBill uses AI