The Act abolished the U.S. Civil Service Commission and distributed its functions primarily among three new agencies: the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), the Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB), and the Federal Labor Relations Authority (FLRA).

By the time President Jimmy Carter took office in 1977, the Lloyd-LaFollette Act was perceived as entirely obsolete and forced the necessity of legislative reform.

Carter intended for the act to create more bureaucratic officials involved with policy making (rather than administration) and that were more closely politically controlled by the presidency.

Incidents like the Watergate scandal coupled with the consensus public opinion of the Vietnam War being a complete failure led the push for reform.

The Reorganization Plan divided the Civil Service Commission (CSC) into the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) and the Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB).

A 1982 article reported the views of some political scientists that the CSRA had not affected unequal hiring methods, had not formed a division of experienced administrators, and was ignored by certain agencies.