civil service, and merit system

Presidential appointees hold only a small fraction of the over 2 million federal positions. The majority of these jobs are filled through merit systems, ensuring that employees retain their positions even when a new administration takes office. This practice was not always in place. In the nineteenth century, the spoils system awarded government jobs to political allies, often without regard to their qualifications. When administrations switched parties, inexperienced individuals frequently replaced seasoned workers. This led to widespread corruption as federal employment surged from 26,274 in 1851 to 100,020 by 1881. In that year, President James A. Garfield was assassinated, and reports indicated that the shooter was angered over his rejected request for a federal job. This incident ignited calls for reform, resulting in the Pendleton Act, passed by Congress two years later. This legislation mandated exams for certain positions and established the Civil Service Commission to oversee a merit-based personnel system. By the early 1900s, hiring based on merit became standard for federal employees. As the bureaucracy expanded, public servants received safeguards against unjust termination.

The Civil Service Commission handled employee disputes, but critics argued that it was inappropriate for one organization to establish rules and resolve conflicts stemming from those rules. In 1978, President Carter convinced Congress to reform the federal employment system. This reform replaced the Civil Service Commission with new entities, such as the Office of Personnel Management, which took on the responsibility of setting federal personnel policies.

Until the mid-1900s, many policymakers believed government workers should not be allowed to join unions, and major labor laws from the New Deal did not cover public employees. However, in 1962, President Kennedy signed an executive order granting federal workers the right to unionize and negotiate collectively. President Nixon expanded these rights further with another executive order in 1969. The 1978 reform established a Federal Labor Relations Authority to oversee interactions with public-employee unions, leading to significant growth in these unions. By 2011, 33.2% of federal workers were union members, compared to just 7.6% in the private sector.

Federal unions, unlike private sector unions, do not have the right to strike. In 1981, air traffic controllers who violated their no-strike agreement were dismissed by President Reagan. Despite this, federal employees have considerable influence because they effectively choose their supervisors: elected officials. With retirees and family members, they form a powerful voting block, especially in regions with major federal facilities, where local lawmakers advocate for them.

In 1939, Congress enacted the Hatch Act, preventing federal employees from most partisan political activities. This law was amended in 1993, allowing most federal employees to participate in partisan campaigns during their time, although they still cannot engage in such activities while on duty or running for partisan office.