42 U.S.C. § 19321

(a) In general The Under Secretary for Science shall have the authority to— (1) make appointments of not more than 60 scientific, engineering, and professional personnel, without regard to civil service laws, to assist the Department in meeting specific project or research needs; (2) fix the basic pay of any employee appointed under this section at a rate to be determined by the Under Secretary at rates not in excess of Level II of the Executive Schedule (EX–II) under section 5311 of title 5 without regard to the civil service laws; and (3) pay any employee appointed under this section payments in addition to basic pay, except that the total amount of additional payments paid to an employee under this subsection for any 12-month period shall not exceed the lesser of the following amounts: (A) $25,000. (B) The amount equal to 25 percent of the annual rate of basic pay of that employee. (C) The amount of the limitation that is applicable for a calendar year under section 5307(a)(1) of title 5 . (b) Term (1) In general The term of any employee appointed under this section shall not exceed 3 years unless otherwise authorized in law. (2) Termination The Under Secretary for Science shall have the authority to terminate any employee appointed under this section at any time based on performance or changing project or research needs of the Department.