5 U.S.C. § 1302
Section 1302 · Regulations
Amended 2 times on record
Applied in 44 court decisions — leading case Sampson v. Murray (1974)
Most recently applied in Bandimere v. United States Securities & Exchange Commission (May 2017)
How often courts cite this section
Court decisions citing this, by year.Markers show enactment, consequential amendments, and circuit splits over this section — watch for a citation surge after a change or a disagreement. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.
(a) The Office of Personnel Management, subject to the rules prescribed by the President under this title for the administration of the competitive service, shall prescribe regulations for, control, supervise, and preserve the records of, examinations for the competitive service.
(b) The Office shall prescribe and enforce regulations for the administration of the provisions of this title, and Executive orders issued in furtherance thereof, that implement the Congressional policy that preference shall be given to preference eligibles in certification for appointment, and in appointment, reinstatement, reemployment, and retention, in the competitive service in Executive agencies, permanent or temporary, and in the government of the District of Columbia.
(c) The Office shall prescribe regulations for the administration of the provisions of this title that implement the Congressional policy that preference shall be given to preference eligibles in certification for appointment, and in appointment, reinstatement, reemployment, and retention, in the excepted service in Executive agencies, permanent or temporary, and in the government of the District of Columbia.
(d) The Office may prescribe reasonable procedure and regulations for the administration of its functions under chapter 15 of this title.
Editorial notes U.S. Code · Office of the Law Revision Counsel
Subsection (a) is based on former section 633(3) (less last 10 words). The regulation-making power conferred by that section covers the power conferred by former section 633(2)7 (last 17 words) which is, therefore, omitted. The requirement of notice is preserved in section 3304. The words “through its members or the examiners” are omitted as unnecessary in view of section 1104. The authority of the President to prescribe rules, based on former section 633(1) is carried into sections 2951, 3302, 3304(a), 3306(a), 3321, 7152, 7153, 7321, and 7322 of this title.
In subsections (b)–(d), the word “rules” is omitted as included in “regulations”.
The provisions of the Veterans’ Preference Act of 1944 (former sections 851–869) to which the regulation-making authority of subsections (b) and (c) apply are carried into sections 2108, 3305(b), 3306(a)(2), 3308–3320, 3351, 3363, 3364, and 7701, subchapter I of chapter 35, and subchapter II of chapter 75 of this title. The first 76 words of former section 851 are added here to preserve the general statement of policy in the light of which the substantive provisions that formerly comprised the Veterans’ Preference Act of 1944 are to be interpreted. See Elder v. Brannan, 241 U.S. 277, 286. In subsection (b), the words “in the competitive service in Executive agencies, permanent or temporary, and in the government of the District of Columbia”, and in subsection (c) the words “in the excepted service in Executive agencies, permanent or temporary, and in the government of the District of Columbia” are coextensive with and substituted for “in civilian positions in all establishments, agencies, bureaus, administrations, projects, and departments of the Government, permanent or temporary, and in either (a) the classified civil service; (b) the unclassified civil service; (c) any temporary or emergency establishment, agency, bureau, administration, project, and department created by Acts of Congress or Presidential Executive order”, in view of the exclusion of positions in the legislative and judicial branches by former section 869.
Standard changes are made to conform with the definitions applicable and the style of this title as outlined in the preface to the report.
Amendments
1978—Subsecs. (a) to (d). Pub. L. 95–454 substituted “Office of Personnel Management” for “Civil Service Commission” and “Office” for “Commission” wherever appearing.
Effective Date of 1978 Amendment
Amendment by Pub. L. 95–454 effective 90 days after Oct. 13, 1978, see section 907 of Pub. L. 95–454, set out as a note under section 1101 of this title.
Executive Order No. 10561
Ex. Ord. No. 10561, Sept. 13, 1954, 19 F.R. 5963, which related to official personnel folders, was revoked by section 2–201 of Ex. Ord. No. 12107, Dec. 28, 1978, 44 F.R. 1055, set out as a note under section 1101 of this title.
Executive Order No. 11397
Ex. Ord. No. 11397, Feb. 9, 1968, 33 F.R. 2833, formerly set out as a note under this section, which related to transitional appointments of veterans who served during the Vietnam Era, was revoked by Ex. Ord. No. 11521, Mar. 26, 1970, 35 F.R. 5311, set out as a note under section 3302 of this title.
Cross References
Preference eligibles—
Adverse actions, see section 7511 et seq. of this title.
Back pay, reinstatement, or restoration after removal, suspension, or furlough, see section 5596 of this title.
Competitive service, see section 3309 et seq. of this title.
Definition, see section 2108 of this title.
Retention preference, see section 3504 of this title.
Transfers, see section 3351 of this title.