FORCE Act

The FORCE Act would create a National Defense Executive Reserve (the Reserve) inside the Defense Production Act framework. The core idea is to enlist privately employed experts who volunteer, are trained, and can be temporarily brought into federal agencies during national defense emergencies to augment government capacity without hiring more full-time staff. The Act lays out how the Reserve would be established, activated, trained, and overseen, including protections for volunteers and a plan to fund and regulate these activities. It also makes substantial changes to the Defense Production Act’s framework for voluntary agreements, aiming to streamline processes and reduce some government-wide regulatory coordination (notably involving the Federal Trade Commission) while requiring the Attorney General to issue rules balancing national defense needs with competition concerns. A voluntary agreement process would be developed within 18 months (or upon AG rulemaking), focusing on critical defense issues such as catastrophic cyber events and involving Reserve units. Potential impacts include faster, cost-efficient expansion of federal capacity during emergencies, diminished need for large increases in permanent staffing, and more formal coordination between federal agencies and private experts. However, concerns could arise about oversight, conflicts of interest, security clearances, contractor-like dynamics, and ensuring appropriate balance between national defense needs and competition/antitrust considerations.