Direct Hire To Fight Fires
Latest action · Jan 8, 2026 Reported by the Committee on Natural Resources. H. Rept. 119-432, Part I.
Progress
Where this bill reached, and when. A stage with no date was not reached; one that failed a vote and later carried shows the date it carried.
- IntroducedJan 15, 2025
- Passed HouseNot reached
- Passed SenateNot reached
- To the PresidentNot reached
- Became lawNot reached
Summary
Direct Hire To Fight Fires
This bill provides permanent direct-hire authority to the Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Department of the Interior to fill wildland firefighter and firefighting support positions in the Forest Service and Interior agencies.
The bill also requires USDA and Interior to implement policies to recruit and retain wildland firefighters and related personnel, such as by streamlining the hiring process and reducing barriers for firefighters transferring between agencies.
Further, the bill requires USDA and Interior to annually report related data to Congress, including the number of firefighters needed for the coming year, the number of firefighting vacancies in each state, and existing barriers to filling such vacancies. The report must also be made available on a public website.
Cosponsors 2
Members who signed on, in the order they did. All signed on Jan 15, 2025.
| Seat | Cosponsor | Signed on | |
|---|---|---|---|
| R-CA | Jay Obernolte | Original | Jan 15, 2025 |
| R-CA | Kevin Kiley | Original | Jan 15, 2025 |
Committees 3
Where it was sent and what each committee and subcommittee did with it, in order.
| Chamber | Committee | What it did |
|---|---|---|
| House | Oversight and Government Reform Committee | Referred Jan 15, 2025 |
| House | Natural Resources Committee | Referred Jan 15, 2025Markup Jul 15, 2025Reported Jan 8, 2026 |
| House | Agriculture Committee | Referred Jan 15, 2025 |
| Forestry and Horticulture Subcommittee | Referred Apr 4, 2025 |
Actions 6
Everything that happened, newest first.
- Jan 8, 2026Reported by the Committee on Natural Resources. H. Rept. 119-432, Part I.
- Jul 15, 2025Committee Consideration and Mark-up Session Held
- Jul 15, 2025Ordered to be Reported by Unanimous Consent.
- Apr 4, 2025Referred to the Subcommittee on Forestry and Horticulture.
- Jan 15, 2025Introduced in House
- Jan 15, 2025Referred to the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, and in addition to the Committees on Natural Resources, and Agriculture, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
Research
What has been written about this bill: committee reports, cost estimates, the sponsor’s authority statement, printed hearings and the Congressional Research Service’s work.
Committee report
Congressional Budget Office cost estimate
- Apr 14, 2026H.R. 435, Direct Hire to Fight FiresAs reported by the House Committee on Natural Resources on January 8, 2026
Constitutional authority
The sponsor’s statement, as printed in the Congressional Record, vol. 171, no. 8, January 15, 2025, page H186.
Titles 2
Every title it has carried, official and short, at each stage.
- Official Title as Introduced
- To amend title 5, United States Code, to provide direct hire authority to appoint individuals to Federal wildland firefighting and firefighting support positions in the Forest Service or the Department of the Interior, and for other purposes.
- Short Title(s) as Introduced
- Direct Hire To Fight Fires
Subjects
Assigned by the Library of Congress. Policy area: Government Operations and Politics.
- Congressional oversight
- Department of Agriculture
- Department of the Interior
- Employee hiring
- Federal officials
- Fires
- First responders and emergency personnel
- Forests, forestry, trees
- Government employee pay, benefits, personnel management
- Government information and archives
- Government Operations and Politics
Text 1
Each version as it was printed, newest first.
- Jan 15, 2025Introduced in House
Everything here is as published by Congress: the summary is the Congressional Research Service's, the action wording is the clerks', and the subjects are the Library of Congress's. How far it got is read from the actions themselves, taking the most recent one of each kind, so a bill that failed a vote and later passed is shown as having passed. Records come from this bill on Congress.gov and govinfo.gov; cost estimates are the Congressional Budget Office's, and the hearings are the printed hearings GovInfo publishes, which can appear months after the hearing.
