; and (2) by striking paragraphs (2) and (3). (b) Passport fees Section 1(b) of the Passport Act of June 4, 1920, as amended by subsection (a), shall be applied through fiscal year 2028 by striking such costs and inserting the costs of providing consular services . (c) Modernization of passport processing A portion of the expanded expenditure authorities provided in subsections (a) and (b) shall be used— (1) to modernize consular systems, with an emphasis on passport and citizenship services; and (2) towards a feasibility study on how the Department could provide urgent, in-person passport services to significant populations with the longest travel times to existing passport agencies, including the possibility of building new passport agencies. 102. Special hiring authority for passport services During the 3-year period beginning on the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State, without regard to the provisions under sections 3309 through 3318 of title 5, United States Code, may directly appoint candidates to positions in the competitive service (as defined in section 2102 of such title) at the Department in the Passport and Visa Examining Series 0967. 103. Quarterly report on passport wait times Not later than 30 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, and quarterly thereafter for the following 3 years, the Secretary shall submit a report to the appropriate congressional committees that describes— (1) the current estimated wait times for passport processing; (2) the steps that have been taken by the Department to reduce wait times to a reasonable time; (3) efforts to improve the rollout of the online passport renewal processing program, including how much of passport revenues the Department is spending on consular systems modernization; (4) the demand for urgent passport services by major metropolitan area