1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Rebalance for an Effective Defense Uniformed and Civilian Employees Act or REDUCE Act . 2. Limitation on number of employees in the Department of Defense (a) Limitation on FTEs (1) In general Notwithstanding the requirements of section 129 of title 10, United States Code, and consistent with the requirements of subsection (d), in each of fiscal years 2024 through 2028, the number of full-time equivalent civilian positions in the Department of Defense may not be greater than 85 percent of the number of such positions at the Department as of September 30, 2018, as determined by the Director of the Office of Personnel Management. (2) SES Of the positions permitted pursuant to paragraph (1) for fiscal years 2024 through 2028 at the Department of Defense, not more than 1,000 may be career appointee (as defined in section 3132(a)(4) of title 5, United States Code) positions within the Senior Executive Service. (b) Voluntary reductions To achieve the reductions in personnel required by subsection (a), the Secretary of Defense may exercise the authority provided for— (1) voluntary separation incentive payments (subchapter II of chapter 35 of title 5, United States Code)