FORCE Act

The FORCE Act establishes a National Defense Executive Reserve to allow private experts to volunteer for temporary federal roles during national defense emergencies, and it updates rules for voluntary agreements under the Defense Production Act. Sec. 2, National Defense Executive Reserve: The President must create a Reserve of private persons with unique expertise to volunteer, train, and be temporarily employed in federal agencies during national defense emergencies. The heads of the Departments of Commerce, Defense, and Homeland Security, plus other agencies the President chooses, must set up Reserve units within 180 days of final rules. The President can activate a unit only during a declared national emergency, on a non-delegable basis, and after a public determination it's needed for national defense. Training can occur without activation. The Office of Personnel Management must issue rules within 270 days on selection, compensation, security clearances, training, and management. Reserve members get employment protections similar to FEMA intermittent personnel. Funding for the Reserve comes from the Defense Production Act. Sec. 3, Improving the Use of Voluntary Agreements: This section changes the Defense Production Act to let the President delegate authority for voluntary agreements to any federal agency head, removes the Federal Trade Commission from several roles, and requires the Secretary of Commerce to issue rules on voluntary agreements with Attorney General approval. The Attorney General must issue rules within 270 days to balance national defense with competition. The President must develop a voluntary agreement within 18 months or after the Attorney General's rule, addressing a critical national defense issue like a catastrophic cyber attack on critical infrastructure, using the National Defense Executive Reserve units.