Reduction in force moratorium at National Institute of Standards and Technology

(a) In general Until on or after the date that full-year appropriations for the National Institute of Standards and Technology for fiscal year 2026 have been enacted into law, the Institute may not— (1) initiate or implement any reduction in force; or (2) conduct an involuntary separation of any employee in the competitive service or the excepted service, any career employee in the excepted service, or any career appointee in the Senior Executive Service of the Institute except for cause on charges of misconduct, delinquency, or inefficiency. (b) Application For the purposes of carrying out subsection (a)— (1) the terms competitive service, excepted service, and career appointee have the meanings given those terms in sections 2102, 2103, and 3132(a), respectively, of title 5, United States Code; and (2) such subsection shall be in addition to any other authority with respect to adverse personnel actions, including chapter 75 of such title 5.