Direct Hire To Fight Fires

This bill provides direct-hire authority to the Department of Agriculture and the Department of the Interior for purposes of filling wildland and structural firefighting positions, including support positions, in the Forest Service and Interior agencies.

Direct-hire authority is an expedited hiring authority that currently may be issued by the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) to fill positions in the competitive service for which there is a critical hiring need or severe shortage of candidates. The OPM may issue such authority to agencies upon written request or upon an independent assessment that there is a critical hiring need or severe shortage of candidates for specific positions.