The Justice Department, on behalf of DOD, has filed an appeal to the ruling issued earlier this year by US District Court Judge Emmett Sullivan that would alter the Pentagon’s plan for labor relations under the new National Security Personnel System. According to the judge, NSPS fall short in the collective bargaining arena. Pentagon officials disagreed, saying the new system provided them flexibilities and preserved employee protections. DOD has been proceeding with other elements—such as performance management and compensation and classification—to move 11,000 non-bargaining unit employees in “spiral 1.1” under at least those aspects by late spring.
The use of a military counter-drone laser on the southwest border this week—which prompted the Federal Aviation Administration to abruptly close the airspace over El Paso, Texas—will be a “case study” on the complex web of authorities needed to employ such weapons near civilian areas and the consequences of agencies…
