Applicability of Senior Executive Service

Congress requested GAO to render a formal opinion on whether the employees in the Veterans Administration's (VA) Department of Medicine and Surgery (DMS) are subject to the governmentwide Senior Executive Service (SES) provisions of the Civil Service Reform Act of 1978. The Office of Personnel Management (OPM), which administers the SES program, holds the position that these employees are subject to the SES provisions. VA disagrees with the OPM position, pointing out that when DMS was established it had a separate statutory personnel system. VA relies on the strong, clear intent of Congress to establish a personnel system outside of civil service with separate authority to employ and pay medical personnel. GAO noted that: (1) DMS is a component of VA, an executive agency; (2) DMS is not listed among the agency exclusions for SES coverage; and (3) DMS senior medical positions meet the statutory definition for SES coverage. It was the opinion of GAO that the SES provisions of the Civil Service Reform Act do apply to VA DMS.