5 U.S.C. § 7501
Section 7501 · Definitions
Amended 3 times on record
Applied in 283 court decisions — leading case United States v. Testan (1976)
Most recently applied in Natl Assn of Immigration Judges v. Sirce Owen (June 2025)
Applied most in the District Circuit Circuit (26 decisions)
Cases citing this section usually also cite 5 U.S.C. § 7703 · 5 U.S.C. § 7513 · 5 U.S.C. § 7512
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.
For the purpose of this subchapter—
(1) "employee" means an individual in the competitive service who is not serving a probationary or trial period under an initial appointment or who has completed 1 year of current continuous employment in the same or similar positions under other than a temporary appointment limited to 1 year or less; and
(2) "suspension" means the placing of an employee, for disciplinary reasons, in a temporary status without duties and pay.
Editorial notes U.S. Code · Office of the Law Revision Counsel
Editorial Notes
Prior Provisions
A prior section 7501, Pub. L. 89–554, Sept. 6, 1966, 80 Stat. 527, related to removal or suspension without pay of an individual in the competitive service and procedures applicable to such removal or suspension, prior to repeal by Pub. L. 95–454, §204(a).
Amendments
2021—Par. (1). Pub. L. 117–81 struck out ", except as provided in section 1599e of title 10," after "initial appointment or,".
2015—Par. (1). Pub. L. 114–92 substituted "or, except as provided in section 1599e of title 10, who" for "or who".
Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries
Effective Date of 2021 Amendment
Amendment by Pub. L. 117–81 applied as if effective Dec. 31, 2022, to correspond to the effective date of the repeal of section 1599e of Title 10, Armed Forces, to reflect the probable intent of Congress. See Effective Date of Repeal note under section 1599e of Title 10.
Effective Date
Section effective 90 days after Oct. 13, 1978, see section 907 of Pub. L. 95–454, set out as an Effective Date of 1978 Amendment note under section 1101 of this title.
Short Title of 1990 Amendment
Pub. L. 101–376, §1, Aug. 17, 1990, 104 Stat. 461, provided that: "This Act [amending sections 4303, 7511, and 7701 of this title and enacting provisions set out as notes under section 4303 of this title] may be cited as the 'Civil Service Due Process Amendments'."