Direct Hire To Fight Fires
Introduced Jan 15, 2025 by Rep. Darrell Issa
It's waiting on a committee vote to reach the full chamber. Most bills never leave this stage.
This bill provides permanent direct-hire authority to the Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Department of the Interior to fill wildland firefighter and firefighting support positions in the Forest Service and Interior agencies.
The bill also requires USDA and Interior to implement policies to recruit and retain wildland firefighters and related personnel, such as by streamlining the hiring process and reducing barriers for firefighters transferring between agencies.
Further, the bill requires USDA and Interior to annually report related data to Congress, including the number of firefighters needed for the coming year, the number of firefighting vacancies in each state, and existing barriers to filling such vacancies. The report must also be made available on a public website.
Summary by the Congressional Research Service.
No floor votes yet — it hasn't reached the floor of either chamber.