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Washington, D.C.— The leader of the nation’s largest independent union of federal employees condemned the widespread use of the Federal Career Intern Program (FCIP) before a key Senate committee today, saying the program narrows the applicant pool and creates a perception of unfair and arbitrary treatment. According to the Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB), between 2001 and 2004, competitive examining was used for only 29 percent of total federal hires.

In testimony before the Senate Subcommittee on Oversight of Government Management, the Federal Workforce, and the District of Columbia, National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU) President Colleen M. Kelley pointed to the FCIP as a prime example of how the agencies are departing from carefully-designed and statutorily-mandated competitive examination and selection requirements for federal civil service.

The NTEU leader said one of the most efficient ways to quickly upgrade government recruitment methods would be to scale back the FCIP.

“Far from being a limited special-focus hiring tool, aimed at providing structured, two-year training and development ‘internships,’ FCIP is now the tool of choice to circumvent fair hiring practices,” President Kelley said. “Vacancy announcements do not have to be posted, veterans’ preference rights are diminished, and agencies have discretion to make selection decisions without following rating and ranking processes or merit promotion plans,” she said.

She noted that U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has used it to fill all entry-level officer positions, and other agencies, like the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), employ the program to fill many entry-level openings.

“These misnamed ‘interns’ are hired into the excepted service, creating a de facto two- or three-year probationary period, instead of the standard one-year period for entry level positions in the competitive service,” President Kelley said.

Last year, NTEU filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, challenging Office of Personnel Management (OPM) rules covering the FCIP. The suit argues that the rules are allowing government agencies to undermine competitive hiring procedures that have served as the cornerstone of the merit-based federal civil service for more than a century.

Additionally, President Kelley noted the lack of a comprehensive hiring program across the federal government and urged the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) to take the lead in developing one.

“We need a comprehensive plan to get back to the place where we attract the best and the brightest this country has to offer. The federal government’s missions will be complicated in the years ahead,” Kelley said. “We need to attract and retain a workforce that will meet these challenges.”

She urged Congress to prod agencies into a greater use of existing hiring flexibilities, highlighting monetary bonuses, relocation assistance and flexitime options that offer agencies more versatility when competing for employees against the private sector.

“Looked at from the outside, the federal government as an employer seems pretty good. People see job security, good benefits and an ability to make a difference,” Kelley said. “From the inside, workers see their jobs threatened by contracting out competitions … a continual assault of their benefits … and, often management does not respect their dedication.”

Kelley pointed to the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) as an agency where management problems have led to extremely low employee morale and high rates of attrition.

“TSA is no showcase for anything except the worst-case scenario when the merit system is not followed,” she said. “TSA Officers (TSOs) at our airports are subject to most of the management flexibilities this administration often points to as advancing the recruitment and retention of a high-quality workforce. Those ‘flexibilities’ have resulted in one of the most egregious personnel systems in the government.”