DHS personnel reform gets a partial thumbs up.

The Department of Homeland Security's plan to reform its personnel system got a qualified endorsement in February from the head of the U.S. General Accounting Office.

The plan is designed to align the DHS personnel system with the department's mission requirements and, at the same time, protect the civil rights of the department's employees.

"Many of the basic principles underlying the DHS [proposed] regulations are consistent with proven approaches by strategic capital management," Comptroller General David M. Walker told a congressional hearing. "However, some parts of the system raise questions that DHS, [the Office of Personnel Management] and Congress should consider."

For example, Walker noted, the proposed regulations do not apply to nearly half of all DHS employees, including nearly 50,000 screeners in the Transportation Security Administration and the uniformed division of the Secret Service. To include them would require additional legislation, he said.

Once the department issues final regulations for the plan, it will face "multiple implementation challenges," Walker said. One challenge will be securing enough funding.

For example, the administration has requested more than $10 million for fiscal year 2005 for a performance pay fund to recognize those employees who meet or exceed expectations and $100 million to fund training and the development of the performance management and compensation system.

Deputy DHS Secretary James M. Loy said at the hearing that the changes were necessary. "We need the ability to act swiftly and decisively in response to critical homeland security threats and other mission needs," he said. "To achieve this, it is essential that we continue to attract and retain highly talented and motivated employees ... The current system is too cumbersome to achieve this."