10 U.S.C. § 4092

(a) Programs Authorized.— (1) Laboratories of the military departments .— The Secretary of Defense may carry out a program of personnel management authority provided in subsection (b) in order to facilitate recruitment of eminent experts in science or engineering for such laboratories of the military departments as the Secretary shall designate for purposes of the program for research and development projects of such laboratories. (2) DARPA .— The Director of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency may carry out a program of personnel management authority provided in subsection (b) in order to facilitate recruitment of eminent experts in science or engineering for research and development projects and to enhance the administration and management of the Agency. (3) DOTE .— The Director of the Office of Operational Test and Evaluation may carry out a program of personnel management authority provided in subsection (b) in order to facilitate recruitment of eminent experts in science or engineering to support operational test and evaluation missions of the Office. (4) Strategic capabilities office .— The Director of the Strategic Capabilities Office may carry out a program of personnel management authority provided in subsection (b) in order to facilitate recruitment of eminent experts in science or engineering for the Office. (5) DIU .— The Director of the Defense Innovation Unit may carry out a program of personnel management authority provided in subsection (b) in order to facilitate recruitment of eminent experts in science or engineering for the Unit. (6) Joint artificial intelligence .— The official designated under section 238(b) of the John S. McCain National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2019 ( Public Law 115–232 ) may carry out a program of personnel management authority provided in subsection (b) in order to facilitate recruitment of eminent experts in science or engineering to support the activities of such official under section 238 of such Act. The authority to carry out the program under this paragraph shall terminate on December 31, 2024 . (7) NGA .— The Director of the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency may carry out a program of personnel management authority provided in subsection (b) in order to facilitate recruitment of eminent experts in science or engineering for research and development projects and to enhance the administration and management of the Agency. (8) SDA .— The Director of the Space Development Agency may carry out a program of personnel management authority provided in subsection (b) in order to facilitate recruitment of eminent experts in science or engineering for research and development projects and to enhance the administration and management of the Agency. The authority to carry out the program under this paragraph shall terminate on December 31, 2030 . (9) United states cyber command .— The Commander of United States Cyber Command may carry out a program of personnel management authority provided in subsection (b) in order to facilitate the recruitment of eminent experts in computer science, data science, engineering, mathematics, and computer network exploitation within the headquarters of United States Cyber Command and the Cyber National Mission Force. (10) Office of the under secretary of defense for research and engineering .— The Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering may carry out a program of personnel management authority provided in subsection (b) in order to facilitate recruitment of eminent experts in science or engineering for the Office of the Under Secretary. (11) Office of strategic capital .— The Director of the Office of Strategic Capital may carry out a program of personnel management authority provided in subsection (b) in order to facilitate recruitment of eminent experts in finance and investment for the Office. (b) Personnel Management Authority .— Under a program under subsection (a), the official responsible for administration of the program may— (1) without regard to any provision of title 5 governing the appointment of employees in the civil service— (A) in the case of the laboratories of the military departments designated pursuant to subsection (a)(1), appoint scientists and engineers to a total of not more than 40 scientific and engineering positions in such laboratories; (B) in the case of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, appoint individuals to a total of not more than 140 positions in the Agency; (C) in the case of the Office of Operational Test and Evaluation, appoint scientists and engineers to a total of not more than 10 scientific and engineering positions in the Office; (D) in the case of the Strategic Capabilities Office, appoint scientists and engineers to a total of not more than 20 scientific and engineering positions in the Office, of which not more than 5 such positions may be positions of administration or management of the Office; (E) in the case of the Defense Innovation Unit, appoint scientists and engineers to a total of not more than 35 scientific and engineering positions in the Unit, of which not more than 5 such positions may be positions of administration or management of the Unit; (F) in the case of the office of the official designated under section 238(b) of the John S. McCain National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2019 ( Public Law 115–232 ), appoint scientists and engineers to a total of not more than 5 scientific and engineering positions in support of the activities of such official under section 238 of such Act; (G) in the case of the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, appoint individuals to a total of not more than 7 positions in the Agency, of which not more than 2 such positions may be positions of administration or management in the Agency; (H) in the case of the Space Development Agency, appoint individuals to a total of not more than 25 positions in the Agency, of which not more than 5 such positions may be positions of administration or management of the Agency; (I) in the case of United States Cyber Command, appoint computer scientists, data scientists, engineers, mathematicians, and computer network exploitation specialists to a total of not more than 10 scientific and engineering positions in the Command; (J) in the case of the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering, appoint scientists and engineers to a total of not more than 10 scientific and engineering positions in the Office; and (K) in the case of the Office of Strategic Capital, appoint individuals to a total of not more than 30 positions in the Office; (2) notwithstanding any provision of title 5 governing the rates of pay or classification of employees in the executive branch, prescribe the rates of basic pay for positions to which employees are appointed under paragraph (1)— (A) in the case of employees appointed pursuant to subparagraphs (B), (D), (E), (H), and (K) of paragraph (1), at a rate to be determined by the head of the organization concerned up to 150 percent of the total annual compensation payable to the Vice President under section 104 of title 3 ; (B) in the case of employees appointed pursuant to paragraph (1)(G), to any of 2 positions of administration or management designated by the Director of the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency for purposes of this subparagraph; and (C) in the case of any other employee appointed pursuant to paragraph (1), at rates not in excess of the maximum rate of basic pay authorized for senior-level positions under section 5376 of title 5 ; (3) pay any employee appointed under paragraph (1), other than an employee appointed to a position designated as described in paragraph (2)(A), payments in addition to basic pay within the limit applicable to the employee under subsection (d); and (4) during any fiscal year— (A) pay up to 15 individuals newly appointed pursuant to paragraph (1)(B) the travel, transportation, and relocation expenses and services described under sections 5724, 5724a, and 5724c of title 5; and (B) pay up to 15 individuals previously appointed pursuant to such paragraph, upon separation, the travel, transportation, and relocation expenses and services described under such sections (as applicable). (c) Limitation on Term of Appointment.— (1) In general .— Except as provided in paragraph (2), the service of an employee under an appointment under subsection (b)(1) may not exceed four years. (2) Extension .— The official responsible for the administration of a program under subsection (a) may, in the case of a particular employee under the program, extend the period to which service is limited under paragraph (1) by up to two years if the official determines that such action is necessary to promote the efficiency of a laboratory of a military department, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, the Office of Operational Test and Evaluation, the Strategic Capabilities Office, the Defense Innovation Unit, the activities under section 238 of the John S. McCain National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2019 ( Public Law 115–232 ), the Space Development Agency, or the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, as applicable. (d) Maximum Amount of Additional Payments Payable .— Notwithstanding any other provision of this section or section 5307 of title 5 , no additional payments may be paid to an employee under subsection (b)(3) in any calendar year if, or to the extent that, the employee’s total annual compensation in such calendar year will exceed the maximum amount of total annual compensation payable at the salary set in accordance with section 104 of title 3 .