For Our Republic Act

Chapter 8 of title 5, United States Code, is amended—

(1) in section 801(a)(1)(A)—

(A) in clause (ii), by striking “and” at the end;

(B) in clause (iii), by striking the period at the end and inserting “; and”; and

(C) by adding at the end the following:

“(iv) if the rule relates to a reduction in force at the Federal agency that is authorized under subchapter I of chapter 35, a detailed justification for the reduction in force, which shall include—

(I) the specific reasons for the reduction in force;

(II) the anticipated impact of the reduction in force on the employees and operations of the Federal agency;

(III) any alternatives to the reduction in force that the Federal agency considered, including the reasons that the Federal agency rejected those alternatives;

(IV) a summary of the consultations that the Federal agency has held with—

(aa) employees of the Federal agency who will be affected by the reduction in force; and

(bb) representatives of the employees described in item (aa); and

(V) a summary of how the reduction in force will impact employees of the Federal agency who are veterans.”; and

(2) by amending section 804(3) to read as follows:

“(3) The term rule—

(A) has the meaning given the term in section 551; and

(B) includes—

(i) a rule or order relating to a reduction in force at a Federal agency that is authorized under subchapter I of chapter 35; and

(ii) any significant action by a Federal agency that substantially affects the rights or obligations of non-Federal agency parties, such as a workforce restructuring, office closure, or other action by a Federal agency that has a material impact on the employees or operations of the Federal agency.”.

(a) Agency defined.— In this section, the term agency—

(1) means each authority of the Government of the United States, whether or not it is within or subject to review by another agency; and

(2) does not include—

(A) the Congress;

(B) the courts of the United States;

(C) the governments of the territories or possessions of the United States; or

(D) the government of the District of Columbia.

(b) Prohibition.— An agency may only be dissolved, restructured, merged with another agency, or altered, including alterations with respect to the purpose or mission of the agency, with the express consent of Congress.