Gottheimer unveils House bill to accelerate hiring for Defense Production Act roles

A new measure drafted by U.S. Rep. Josh Gottheimer has been introduced in the U.S. House, setting out to quicken the recruitment process for subject matter experts in positions associated with the Defense Production Act, according to the U.S. Congress.

Filed as H.R.8138 on March 27, 2026 during the regular legislative session of the 119th Congress, the proposal is detailed below based on the official bill text with some explanatory notes for clarity.

Essentially, the legislation grants federal agencies with seats on the Defense Production Act Committee the authority to bring subject matter experts into competitive service roles while skipping certain standard federal civil service hiring rules. This authority is meant to facilitate prompt hiring of professionals needed to support identification, solicitation, evaluation, or approval of projects seeking financial assistance under the 1950 Defense Production Act. By circumventing established hiring protocol, the bill is designed to enable these agencies to meet urgent production requirements with greater speed. The legislation does not include a stated effective date.

The measure was introduced solely by Rep. Josh Gottheimer (Democrat-NJ-5th District).

This session, Rep. Gottheimer has introduced 58 other bills as well.

Congressional bills may be introduced in either the House or the Senate, except for revenue measures, which must first be submitted to the House. After submission, bills are referred to committees for consideration, where they may be reviewed, amended, held for hearings, or discussed in debate before moving to a vote by each chamber. For legislation to proceed, both chambers must approve the same version before it is presented to the president for signature or veto. Congressional terms are two years in length, each sequentially numbered and split into two sessions. Congress publishes the legislative process and official bill information through Congress.gov.

Josh S. Gottheimer represents New Jersey in the U.S. House. He has served as a Democrat since the One Hundred Fifteenth Congress and through four consecutive terms, beginning January 3, 2017. Gottheimer earned his B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania in 1997 and his J.D. from Harvard Law School in 2004.

Details for this report were gathered from the U.S. Congress. Access source information here.