{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.lankford.senate.gov/news/press-releases/lankford-moore-lead-bipartisan-bicameral-letter-to-department-of-war-on-expanding-hiring-at-military-depots/", "Lankford, Moore Lead Bipartisan, Bicameral Letter to Department of\u00a0War\u00a0on Expanding Hiring at Military Depots", "2026-04-22", "2026", "2026-04", "Republican", "Senate", "OK", "James Lankford", "L000575", "www.lankford.senate.gov", "lankford", "https://www.lankford.senate.gov/news/press-releases", "page_html", "WASHINGTON, DC \u2014 US Senator James Lankford (R-OK) and Congressman Blake Moore (R-UT-01) led a bipartisan, bicameral letter to the Secretaries of the US Air Force, Army, and Navy highlighting a policy they secured in the FY26 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which expanded theDepartment of War\u2019s ability to utilize \u201cdirect hire authority\u201d to fill critical positions at depots, arsenals, shipyards, and industrial facilities.\n\nThe letter requests that each secretary submit a written strategy for how they plan to use the expanded definition of \u2018defense industrial base\u2019 for the purposes of direct hire authority. It also requests a written response on how each service has used direct hire authority to manage workforce attrition and recruitment needs for depot-level maintenance and support positions, how many positions have been filled via direct hire authority this year compared to the previous two fiscal years, and how many positions each service plans to fill with direct hire authority in the upcoming fiscal year.\n\n\u201cBy expanding direct-hire authority to include all supporting units at installations like Tinker Air Force Base, we are cutting the bureaucratic red tape that has slowed our military readiness,\u201d said Lankford. \u201cFor too long, narrow interpretations left thousands of critical support roles stuck in an excruciatingly slow hiring process. This change will help us bring veterans and skilled technicians on board faster, strengthen our defense industrial base, and ensure we are fully using the tools available to support our national security.\u201d\n\n\u201cOur depots desperately need talent, and a slow bureaucratic hiring process prevents depots from hiring the best of the best. I was proud to work with Senator Lankford last year to secure a critical policy change in the FY26 NDAA, which will make it easier for the Ogden Air Logistics Complex to quickly hire skilled workers,\u201d said Moore. \u201cI am especially thrilled that this policy effectively eliminates the 180 Day Rule for most of our civilian positions in Ogden, something I have long advocated to abolish while in Congress.\u201d\n\nThis amendment enables key depots such as Tinker Air Force Base and Hill Air Force Base to use direct hire authority to quickly hire new staff, manage attrition, recruit for increased workload, and reduce reliance on private contractors. It also helps facilities quickly hire veterans after they depart from the military, rather than forcing them to wait six months to enter civilian employment at the Department of War (colloquially known as the \u201c180 Day Rule\u201d). The military frequently loses valuable and skilled veterans to the private sector, where they can start a new civilian career much faster than on the inside of the fence.\n\nThe expanded definition, secured in Sec. 1108, includes a wider array of \u201csupporting unit\u201d jobs staffed at depots, such as program and management analysts, software technicians, facilities mechanics, training instructors, and workers involved in safety and occupational health roles.\n\nBackground:\n\nAfter extensive engagement with military facilities, the signers of this letter found that key supportive maintenance and sustainment roles at these installations were not being filled via direct hire authority.\n\nRather, military services were narrowly interpreting the law to only hire engineers doing hands-on repair work on weapons systems through this fast-track system. This left thousands of open positions related to software sustainment, avionics overhaul, spare engine maintenance, commodities groups, and propulsion engineers across the organic industrial base outside the perimeters of direct hire authority, and subject to a slow competitive hiring process.\n\nFor example, current authority covers approximately 28,000 positions across Tinker, Hill, and Robins Air Force Bases. The expanded authority would cover approximately 8,000 additional positions at these installations.\n\nYou can read the full letter HERE.\n\n###", 1, "2026-04-23T05:48:52Z", "2026-04-23T05:50:10Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.lankford.senate.gov/news/press-releases/lankford-moore-lead-bipartisan-bicameral-letter-to-department-of-war-on-expanding-hiring-at-military-depots/"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.8698627352714539, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}