I
119THCONGRESS
1
STSESSION H. R. 1989
To allow Federal employees terminated while serving a probationary or trial
period to resume such period upon reinstatement, and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
MARCH10, 2025
Ms. E
LFRETH(for herself, Ms. ADAMS, Ms. BARRAGA´N, Mr. BAUMGARTNER,
Mr. B
EYER, Ms. BONAMICI, Ms. BYNUM, Ms. CASTORof Florida, Mr.
C
LEAVER, Mr. COHEN, Ms. DAVIDSof Kansas, Mr. EVANSof Pennsyl-
vania, Mr. F
IELDS, Mrs. FOUSHEE, Mr. GARAMENDI, Ms. HOULAHAN,
Mr. H
OYER, Mr. HURDof Colorado, Mr. IVEY, Ms. JACOBS, Mr. KEN-
NEDYof New York, Mr. LANDSMAN, Mr. LATIMER, Ms. LEEof Pennsyl-
vania, Ms. M
OOREof Wisconsin, Ms. NORTON, Ms. OCASIO-CORTEZ, Mr.
O
LSZEWSKI, Mr. PETERS, Mr. POCAN, Mrs. RAMIREZ, Mr. RASKIN, Ms.
S
ALINAS, Mr. SCHNEIDER, Mr. SOTO, Mr. SUBRAMANYAM, Mr.
T
HANEDAR, Ms. TITUS, Ms. TLAIB, and Ms. VELA´ZQUEZ) introduced the
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Oversight and
Government Reform
A BILL
To allow Federal employees terminated while serving a pro-
bationary or trial period to resume such period upon
reinstatement, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Protect Our Proba-4
tionary Employees Act’’. 5
VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:08 Mar 21, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1989.IH H1989
kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 2
•HR 1989 IH
SEC. 2. RESUMPTION OF PROBATIONARY PERIOD. 1
(a) I
NGENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other provi-2
sion of law, the duration of the probationary or trial period 3
for a covered appointment of a covered probationary em-4
ployee to become final shall be equal to the difference be-5
tween— 6
(1) the duration of such probationary or trial 7
period that, but for this Act, would apply to such 8
covered appointment; and 9
(2) the duration of the probationary or trial pe-10
riod that such covered probationary employee served 11
in the previous Federal position of such covered pro-12
bationary employee, to the extent that such duration 13
does not exceed the duration described in paragraph 14
(1). 15
(b) S
UNSET.—This Act shall terminate on January 16
20, 2029. 17
(c) D
EFINITIONS.—In this Act— 18
(1) C
OVERED APPOINTMENT .—The term ‘‘cov-19
ered appointment’’ means an appointment of a cov-20
ered probationary employee to a position in the 21
former employing agency of such covered proba-22
tionary employee that, to the extent practicable, is 23
the same as the previous Federal position of such 24
covered probationary employee. 25
VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:08 Mar 21, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1989.IH H1989
kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 3
•HR 1989 IH
(2) COVERED PROBATIONARY EMPLOYEE .—The 1
term ‘‘covered probationary employee’’ means an in-2
dividual who— 3
(A) is, or was, involuntarily separated from 4
Government service during the period beginning 5
on January 20, 2025, and ending on the date 6
specified in subsection (b); and 7
(B) immediately prior to such separation, 8
held a position in an Executive agency and 9
serving a probationary or trial period under an 10
initial appointment. 11
(3) E
XECUTIVE AGENCY.—The term ‘‘Executive 12
agency’’ has the meaning given such term in section 13
105 of title 5, United States Code. 14
(4) F
ORMER EMPLOYING AGENCY .—With re-15
spect to a covered probationary employee, the term 16
‘‘former employing agency’’ means the Executive 17
agency from which the separation of such individual 18
made such individual a covered probationary em-19
ployee. 20
(5) P
REVIOUS FEDERAL POSITION .—The term 21
‘‘previous Federal position’’ means the position in 22
the Federal Government held by the covered proba-23
VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:08 Mar 21, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1989.IH H1989
kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 4
•HR 1989 IH
tionary employee immediately before becoming a cov-1
ered probationary employee. 2
Æ
VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:08 Mar 21, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H1989.IH H1989
kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB