United States federal civil service

[11][12] The General Schedule (GS) includes white collar workers at levels 1 to 15, most professional, technical, administrative, and clerical positions in the federal civil service.

[18] In January 2009, about 2 million civilian workers were employed by the federal government, excluding, the postal service and defense.

[22] Certain senior civil service positions, including some heads of diplomatic missions and executive agencies, are filled by political appointees.

Under the Hatch Act of 1939, civil servants are not allowed to engage in political activities while performing their duties.

[24] Public support in the United States for civil service reform strengthened after the 1881 assassination of President James Garfield.

The law required federal government employees to be selected through competitive exams and basis of merit.

The 1978 act abolished the United States Civil Service Commission and created the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM), the Federal Labor Relations Authority (FLRA) and the U.S.

The OPM primarily provides management guidance to the agencies of the executive branch and issues regulations that control federal human resources.

[31] It was claimed that the changes are designed to strengthen merit-system principles in the civil service and improve efficiency, transparency, and accountability in the federal government.

[32][31] In August 2018, after reviewing the executive orders in detail, U.S. District Court Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson temporarily[33] struck down most of the executive orders, ruling that they were an attempt to weaken federal labor unions representing federal employees.

[34] Judge Jackson's ruling was reversed by the DC Circuit on jurisdiction grounds, saying the unions should first have complained to the Federal Labor Relations Authority.

Such employees would no longer be covered by civil service protections against arbitrary dismissal, but would be subject to the same rules as political appointees.

The new description could be applied to thousands of nonpartisan experts such as scientists, who give advice to the political appointees who run their departments.

[37] Federal employee organizations and Congressional Democrats sought to overturn the order via lawsuits or bills.

House Democrats warned in a letter that "The executive order could precipitate a mass exodus from the federal government at the end of every presidential administration, leaving federal agencies without deep institutional knowledge, expertise, experience, and the ability to develop and implement long-term policy strategies.