President Joe Biden on Tuesday signed into law a bipartisan bill to establish a rotation program that will provide federal civilian employees an opportunity to work at different agencies to expand their professional experience and networks as part of efforts to recruit and retain cybersecurity professionals in the federal workforce.
The Federal Rotational Cyber Workforce Program Act “will help ensure there is a pipeline of talented and qualified cybersecurity professionals who can protect our systems and prevent bad actors from stealing sensitive data and compromising national security,” Sen. Gary Peters, D-Mich., said in a statement published Wednesday.
Peters, chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, co-authored the legislation with Sens. John Hoeven, R-N.D., and Jacky Rosen, D-Nevada.
The measure will require the Office of Personnel Management to establish policies and procedures to allow federal cybersecurity employees to be deployed at another agency for up to year and direct the Government Accountability Office to submit a congressional report on the rotational program.
Issuing regulations, training staff and preparing the needed report to Congress in support of the law’s implementation would cost less than $500,000 over the next five years starting 2022, according to the Congressional Budget Office’s cost estimate.
