38 U.S.C. § 7422 — Collective bargaining

(a) Except as otherwise specifically provided in this title, the authority of the Secretary^* to prescribe regulations under section 7421 of this title is under the right of Federal employees to engage in collective bargaining about conditions of employment through representatives chosen by them under chapter 71 of title 5 (relating to labor-management relations).
(b) Such collective bargaining (and any grievance procedures provided under a collective bargaining agreement) in the case of employees described in section 7421(b) of this title cannot cover, or have any applicability to, any matter or question concerning or arising out of
(1) professional conduct or competence,
(2) peer review, or
(3) the establishment, determination, or adjustment of employee compensation^* under this title.
(c) for this section, the term “professional conduct or competence” means any of the following:
(1) Direct patient care.
(2) Clinical competence.
(d) An issue of whether a matter or question concerns or arises out of
(1) professional conduct or competence,
(2) peer review, or
(3) the establishment, determination, or adjustment of employee compensation under this title must be decided by the Secretary and is not itself under collective bargaining and cannot be reviewed by any other agency.
(e) A petition for judicial review or petition for enforcement under section 7123 of title 5 in any case involving employees described in section 7421(b) of this title or arising out of the applicability of chapter 71 of title 5 to employees in those positions, must be taken only in the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.