38 U.S.C. § 7404 — Grades and pay scales

(a)(1) Annual basic-pay rates or ranges for positions under 38 U.S.C. §§ 7306 and 7401(4) must be set from time to time by Executive order under title 5 chapter 53 or other law. Title 5 § 5377 applies to those positions as if they were included in that section’s definition of “position.” (2) Pay for physicians, podiatrists, optometrists, and dentists in positions covered by the Executive order must instead be set under this chapter’s subchapter III. Basic pay for registered nurses and physician assistants may instead be set under subchapter IV; otherwise those positions are not covered by that subchapter, except for bonuses under § 7452 or § 7458 and special pay under § 7452(g). (3) Other covered positions must have basic pay set under title 5 § 5382 as if they were Senior Executive Service positions. The rate may not exceed Executive Schedule level III, or level II if the position is under a performance system meeting title 5 § 5307(d) certification criteria. The Secretary^* may make that certification instead of the Office of Personnel Management and without the Office of Management and Budget’s concurrence.

(b) Positions under § 7401(1) have the listed physician-and-surgeon, podiatrist, optometrist, dentist-and-oral-surgeon, nurse, and clinical-chiropractor grades. The annual basic-pay ranges are set by Executive order under title 5 chapter 53 or other law. The physician schedule has physician and surgeon, podiatrist, optometrist, and dentist grades; the nurse schedule has Nurse V through Nurse I; and the clinical-chiropractor schedule has Chief, Senior, Intermediate, Full, and Associate grades.

(c)(1) Despite § 7425(a), a person appointed under § 7306, § 7401(4), or a covered executive position under § 7401(1) is treated as a career appointee for title 5 § 4507. (2) “Covered executive position” means a position the Secretary finds equivalent in rank to a Senior Executive Service position and subject to an agency performance-management system.

(d) Unless subsection (e), subchapter III, or § 7457 provides otherwise, and except for people appointed under §§ 7401(4) and 7306, pay under this section may not exceed the basic-pay rate for Executive Schedule level V under title 5 § 5316.

(e) The Chief Nursing Officer of the Office of Nursing Services is exempt from § 7451 and receives basic pay set by the Secretary, up to the maximum rates under this chapter’s subchapter IV.