H.R. 302 · 117th Congress

PPSA Act of 2021

Introduced on Jan 13, 2021 by Gerald E. Connolly (D-VA-11). 16 cosponsors, 3 of them from another party. Latest action (Sep 19, 2022): Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.

Stage
Passed one chamber
Introduced
Jan 13, 2021
Cosponsors
16
3 from the other party
Policy area
Government Operations and Politics
Open in the Congress explorerCongress.govAlert me

Progress

The furthest stage the measure reached. Simple and concurrent resolutions do not go to the President.

  1. Introduced
  2. Reported by committee
  3. Passed one chamber
  4. 4Passed both chambers
  5. 5Sent to the President
  6. 6Became law

Official title

To impose limits on excepting competitive service positions from the competitive service, and for other purposes.

Subjects

  • Employee hiring
  • Government employee pay, benefits, personnel management
  • Labor-management relations

Summary

By the Congressional Research Service (Passed House, Sep 15, 2022). Public domain.

Preventing a Patronage System Act of 2021 or the PPSA Act of 2021

This bill prohibits executive agency positions in the competitive service from being placed in the excepted service, unless such positions are placed in Schedules A through E as in effect on September 30, 2020. The bill also prohibits positions in the excepted service from being placed in any schedule other than the aforementioned schedules.

On October 21, 2020, former President Donald Trump issued an executive order titled Creating Schedule F in the Excepted Service. The order placed executive agency positions that are of a confidential, policy-determining, policy-making, or policy-advocating character, and that are not normally subject to change as a result of a presidential transition, under a new schedule in the excepted service (Schedule F) instead of the competitive service. The order also required any such positions in the excepted service to be reclassified to Schedule F. The order was revoked by President Joe Biden on January 22, 2021.

Sponsor and cosponsors

Cosponsors by party as of the day they signed on. Original cosponsors signed on the day of introduction.

Gerald E. ConnollyD-VA-11Sponsor

Democrats · 13

Republicans · 3

Roll calls

Recorded votes on the measure. Most measures move by voice vote or unanimous consent, which record no individual positions.

  1. On Agreeing to the Amendment
    Sep 15, 2022· House· Amendments· Failed 204–226
  2. On Passage
    Sep 15, 2022· House· Passage· Passed 225–204

History

Every action as published, oldest first. Roll calls link to how each member voted.

  1. Jan 13, 2021Introduced in House
  2. Jan 13, 2021Introduced in House
  3. Jan 13, 2021 · HouseReferred to the House Committee on Oversight and Reform.
  4. May 25, 2021 · HouseCommittee Consideration and Mark-up Session Held.
  5. May 25, 2021 · HouseOrdered to be Reported in the Nature of a Substitute (Amended) by the Yeas and Nays: 22 - 18.
  6. Sep 2, 2022Reported (Amended) by the Committee on Oversight and Reform. H. Rept. 117-455.
  7. Sep 2, 2022 · HouseReported (Amended) by the Committee on Oversight and Reform. H. Rept. 117-455.
  8. Sep 2, 2022 · HousePlaced on the Union Calendar, Calendar No. 352.
  9. Sep 13, 2022 · HouseRules Committee Resolution H. Res. 1339 Reported to House. Rule provides for consideration of H.R. 302, H.R. 2988 and H.R. 8326. Rule provides for one hour of general debate each for H.R. 302, H.R. 2988, and H.R. 8326. Rule also provides for one motion to recommit on each bill.
  10. Sep 15, 2022 · HouseConsidered under the provisions of rule H. Res. 1339. (consideration: CR H7848-7857)
  11. Sep 15, 2022 · HouseRule provides for consideration of H.R. 302, H.R. 2988 and H.R. 8326. Rule provides for one hour of general debate each for H.R. 302, H.R. 2988, and H.R. 8326. Rule also provides for one motion to recommit on each bill.
  12. Sep 15, 2022 · HouseDEBATE - The House proceeded with one hour of debate on H.R. 302.
  13. Sep 15, 2022 · HouseDEBATE - Pursuant to H. Res. 1339, the House proceeded with 10 minutes of debate on the Hice (GA) Part A amendment No. 1.
  14. Sep 15, 2022 · HouseThe previous question was ordered pursuant to the rule.
  15. Sep 15, 2022Passed/agreed to in House: On passage Passed by the Yeas and Nays: 225 - 204 (Roll no. 432).House · Roll call 432
  16. Sep 15, 2022 · HouseOn passage Passed by the Yeas and Nays: 225 - 204 (Roll no. 432). (text: CR H7848)House · Roll call 432
  17. Sep 15, 2022 · HouseMotion to reconsider laid on the table Agreed to without objection.
  18. Sep 19, 2022 · SenateReceived in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.

Committees

Committees and subcommittees the measure was referred to.

Agencies in its committees' jurisdiction

Analisa's mapping of committee jurisdiction to federal agencies; the bill may touch others, or none of these.

Sources and method

Every figure on this page traces to these records.

  • Bill status: bills and resolutions, sponsors, actions, subjects and CRS summaries (U.S. Government Publishing Office (GovInfo), from Congress.gov (Library of Congress))GovInfo Bill Status bulk data (Congress.gov; summaries by the Congressional Research Service) · data current to Oct 3, 2026 · loaded Oct 3, 2026 · license: Public domain (U.S. Government work, 17 U.S.C. § 105)
  • Members of Congress, their terms, committees and identifiers (The @unitedstates project (from the Biographical Directory of the U.S. Congress, the House and the Senate))unitedstates/congress-legislators: legislators, committees and current committee membership · data current to Oct 3, 2026 · loaded Oct 3, 2026 · license: CC0 1.0 (public domain dedication)
  • House roll-call votes (Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives)Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives, roll-call vote records · data current to Oct 3, 2026 · loaded Oct 3, 2026 · license: Public domain (U.S. Government work, 17 U.S.C. § 105)
  • Senate roll-call votes and DW-NOMINATE scores (Voteview (UCLA Department of Political Science))Lewis, Jeffrey B., Keith Poole, Howard Rosenthal, Adam Boche, Aaron Rudkin, and Luke Sonnet (2026). Voteview: Congressional Roll-Call Votes Database. https://voteview.com/ · data current to Oct 3, 2026 · loaded Oct 3, 2026 · license: Free to use with the required citation
  • Lobbying disclosures (LD-1 registrations, LD-2 quarterly reports, LD-203 contribution reports) (Clerk of the U.S. House of Representatives)Clerk of the House, Lobbying Disclosure Act filings (organizations only; lobbyists' names are not loaded) · data current to Oct 5, 2026 · loaded Oct 5, 2026 · license: Public domain (U.S. Government work, 17 U.S.C. § 105)
  • Positions are shown only where a roll call recorded them; voice votes and unanimous consent record none.