Pentagon Puts Controversial Personnel Plan on Hold

The Pentagon has temporarily stopped moving civilian employees from the traditional General Schedule -- or GS -- employee classification structure to the controversial National Security Personnel System.

Under pressure from federal employee unions and members of Congress, and facing a skeptical commander in chief, the Defense Department announced today that it and the Office of Personnel Management will undertake a review of the NSPS.

The system has been widely criticized by federal employees who distrust its personnel evaluations under its pay--for--performance plan. Critics also fear that at some point the system could hold down wages for civilian personnel.

During last year's his election campaign, President Obama said he would "strongly consider a complete repeal" or at least an extensive overhaul of NSPS. The announcement did not mention the president, but it did say "with new leadership under a new administration, DoD and OPM will engage with key stakeholders in examining NSPS."

Those stakeholders likely will include organized labor, which has long been relentless in its criticism of the system. And last month, two key members of the House Armed Services Committee told Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates that the agency should halt any more conversions to NSPS.

A letter to Gates from Chairman Ike Skelton (D-Mo.) and Rep. Solomon P. Ortiz (D-Tex.), chairman of the readiness subcommittee, said the system has generated "widespread distrust and discontent within the ranks of the hundreds of thousands of dedicated DOD employees."