Title 5 — Government Organization and EmployeesRelease 119-73
§3132 Definitions and exclusions
Title 5 › Part PART III— - EMPLOYEES › Subpart Subpart B— - Employment and Retention › Chapter CHAPTER 31— - AUTHORITY FOR EMPLOYMENT › Subchapter SUBCHAPTER II— - THE SENIOR EXECUTIVE SERVICE › § 3132
Summary
Defines who and what counts for the Senior Executive Service and how agencies can be left out. Agency means an Executive agency (not a Government corporation or the Government Accountability Office) but excludes certain named agencies and units such as the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Drug Enforcement Administration, Central Intelligence Agency, Office of the Director of National Intelligence, Defense Intelligence Agency, National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, National Security Agency, Department of Defense intelligence civilian activities under 10 U.S.C. 1590, the Federal Election Commission, the Election Assistance Commission, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the Office of Thrift Supervision, the Resolution Trust Corporation, the Farm Credit Administration, the Federal Housing Finance Agency, the National Credit Union Administration, the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection, the Office of Financial Research, the Securities and Exchange Commission, and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. Senior Executive Service position means a job above GS–15 or at Executive Schedule level IV or V (or equivalent) that directs units, runs programs, supervises staff, tracks goals, or makes major policy or executive decisions, with certain exceptions (Foreign Service jobs, administrative law judges under section 3105, and specific excepted-service slots authorized under section 226 of the Homeland Security Act or 10 U.S.C. 1599f). Senior executive means an SES member. Career appointee means an SES member whose qualifications were approved by OPM. Limited term appointee means a nonrenewable SES appointment of 3 years or less. Limited emergency appointee means a nonrenewable SES appointment up to 18 months for an urgent unanticipated need. Noncareer appointee means an SES appointee who is not in the other categories. Career reserved position must be filled by a career appointee; general position may be filled by any SES appointment type. OPM sets the rules for career reserved designations, agency heads must follow them, and OPM will review jobs and can order changes. Each agency must publish its prior-year career reserved list in the Federal Register by March 1. An agency can ask OPM to be excluded; OPM reviews and recommends to the President. Excluded agencies must try to align with the SES where practical, and OPM can ask the President to revoke an exclusion.
Full Legal Text
Title 5, §3132
Government Organization and Employees — Source: USLM XML via OLRC
(a)For the purpose of this subchapter—
(1)“agency” means an Executive agency, except a Government corporation and the Government Accountability Office, but does not include—
(A)any agency or unit thereof excluded from coverage by the President under subsection (c) of this section; or
(B)the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Central Intelligence Agency, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, the Defense Intelligence Agency, the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, the National Security Agency, Department of Defense intelligence activities the civilian employees of which are subject to section 1590 of title 10, and, as determined by the President, an Executive agency, or unit thereof, whose principal function is the conduct of foreign intelligence or counterintelligence activities;
(C)the Federal Election Commission or the Election Assistance Commission;
(D)the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the Office of Thrift Supervision,,11 So in original. the Resolution Trust Corporation, the Farm Credit Administration, the Federal Housing Finance Agency, the National Credit Union Administration, the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection, and the Office of Financial Research;
(E)the Securities and Exchange Commission; or
(F)the Commodity Futures Trading Commission;
(2)“Senior Executive Service position” means any position in an agency which is classified above GS–15 pursuant to section 5108 or in level IV or V of the Executive Schedule, or an equivalent position, which is not required to be filled by an appointment by the President by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, and in which an employee—
(A)directs the work of an organizational unit;
(B)is held accountable for the success of one or more specific programs or projects;
(C)monitors progress toward organizational goals and periodically evaluates and makes appropriate adjustments to such goals;
(D)supervises the work of employees other than personal assistants; or
(E)otherwise exercises important policy-making, policy-determining, or other executive functions;
(i)any position in the Foreign Service of the United States;
(ii)an administrative law judge position under section 3105 of this title;
(iii)any position established as a qualified position in the excepted service by the Secretary of Homeland Security under section 226 22 So in original. See References in Text note below. of the Homeland Security Act of 2002; or
(iv)any position established as a qualified position in the excepted service by the Secretary of Defense under section 1599f of title 10;
(3)“senior executive” means a member of the Senior Executive Service;
(4)“career appointee” means an individual in a Senior Executive Service position whose appointment to the position or previous appointment to another Senior Executive Service position was based on approval by the Office of Personnel Management of the executive qualifications of such individual;
(5)“limited term appointee” means an individual appointed under a nonrenewable appointment for a term of 3 years or less to a Senior Executive Service position the duties of which will expire at the end of such term;
(6)“limited emergency appointee” means an individual appointed under a nonrenewable appointment, not to exceed 18 months, to a Senior Executive Service position established to meet a bona fide, unanticipated, urgent need;
(7)“noncareer appointee” means an individual in a Senior Executive Service position who is not a career appointee, a limited term appointee, or a limited emergency appointee;
(8)“career reserved position” means a position which is required to be filled by a career appointee and which is designated under subsection (b) of this section; and
(9)“general position” means any position, other than a career reserved position, which may be filled by either a career appointee, noncareer appointee, limited emergency appointee, or limited term appointee.
(b)(1)For the purpose of paragraph (8) of subsection (a) of this section, the Office shall prescribe the criteria and regulations governing the designation of career reserved positions. The criteria and regulations shall provide that a position shall be designated as a career reserved position only if the filling of the position by a career appointee is necessary to ensure impartiality, or the public’s confidence in the impartiality, of the Government. The head of each agency shall be responsible for designating career reserved positions in such agency in accordance with such criteria and regulations.
(2)The Office shall periodically review general positions to determine whether the positions should be designated as career reserved. If the Office determines that any such position should be so designated, it shall order the agency to make the designation.
(3)Notwithstanding the provisions of any other law, any position to be designated as a Senior Executive Service position (except a position in the Executive Office of the President) which—
(A)is under the Executive Schedule, or for which the rate of basic pay is determined by reference to the Executive Schedule, and
(B)on the day before the date of the enactment of the Civil Service Reform Act of 1978 was specifically required under section 2102 of this title or otherwise required by law to be in the competitive service,
(4)Not later than March 1 of each year, the head of each agency shall publish in the Federal Register a list of positions in the agency which were career reserved positions during the preceding calendar year.
(c)An agency may file an application with the Office setting forth reasons why it, or a unit thereof, should be excluded from the coverage of this subchapter. The Office shall—
(1)review the application and stated reasons,
(2)undertake a review to determine whether the agency or unit should be excluded from the coverage of this subchapter, and
(3)upon completion of its review, recommend to the President whether the agency or unit should be excluded from the coverage of this subchapter.
(d)Any agency or unit which is excluded from coverage under subsection (c) of this section shall make a sustained effort to bring its personnel system into conformity with the Senior Executive Service to the extent practicable.
(e)The Office may at any time recommend to the President that any exclusion previously granted to an agency or unit thereof under subsection (c) of this section be revoked. Upon recommendation of the Office, the President may revoke, by written determination, any exclusion made under subsection (c) of this section.
(f)If—
(1)any agency is excluded under subsection (c) of this section, or
(2)any exclusion is revoked under subsection (e) of this section,
Legislative History
Notes & Related Subsidiaries
Editorial Notes
References in Text
Level IV or V of the Executive Schedule, referred to in subsec. (a)(2), are set out in section 5315 and 5316 of this title. section 226 of the Homeland Security Act of 2002, referred to in cl. (iii) of concluding provisions of subsec. (a)(2), probably means the section 226 of Pub. L. 107–296 as added by Pub. L. 113–277, § 3(a), Dec. 18, 2014, 128 Stat. 3005, which was renumbered section 2208 of Pub. L. 107–296 by Pub. L. 115–278, § 2(g)(2)(I), Nov. 16, 2018, 132 Stat. 4178, and is classified to section 658 of Title 6, Domestic Security. The date of the enactment of the Civil Service Reform Act of 1978, referred to in subsec. (b)(3), is the date of the enactment of Pub. L. 95–454, which was approved Oct. 13, 1978.
Amendments
2015—Subsec. (a)(2). Pub. L. 114–92 added cl. (iv) of concluding provisions. 2014—Subsec. (a)(2). Pub. L. 113–277 added cl. (iii) of concluding provisions. 2013—Subsec. (a)(1)(B). Pub. L. 112–277 inserted “the Office of the Director of National Intelligence,” after “the Central Intelligence Agency,”. 2010—Subsec. (a)(1)(D). Pub. L. 111–203 substituted “the National Credit Union Administration, the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection, and the Office of Financial Research;” for “and the National Credit Union Administration;”. 2008—Subsec. (a)(1)(B). Pub. L. 110–417 substituted “National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency” for “National Imagery and Mapping Agency”. Pub. L. 110–289, § 1161(g)(2)(A), substituted “, and” for “,, and”. Subsec. (a)(1)(D). Pub. L. 110–289, § 1161(g)(2)(B), struck out “the Federal Housing Finance Board” after “the Office of Thrift Supervision,”, substituted “the Federal Housing Finance Agency” for “the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight of the Department of Housing and Urban Development”, and struck out “or or” at end. Subsec. (a)(1)(E), (F). Pub. L. 110–289, § 1161(g)(2)(C), (D), inserted “or” at end of subpar. (E), relating to Securities and Exchange Commission, and redesignated subpar. (E), relating to Commodity Futures Trading Commission, as (F). 2004—Subsec. (a)(1). Pub. L. 108–271 substituted “Government Accountability Office” for “General Accounting Office” in introductory provisions. 2002—Subsec. (a)(1)(C). Pub. L. 107–252, § 811(b), inserted “or the Election Assistance Commission” after “Commission”. Pub. L. 107–171, § 10702(c)(1)(A), which directed amendment by striking “or” at the end, could not be executed because the word “or” did not appear at the end. See below. Pub. L. 107–123, § 8(d)(1)(B)(i), struck out “or” at end. Subsec. (a)(1)(D). Pub. L. 107–171, § 10702(c)(1)(B), inserted “or” at end. Pub. L. 107–123, § 8(d)(1)(B)(ii), inserted “or” at end. Subsec. (a)(1)(E). Pub. L. 107–171, § 10702(c)(1)(C), added subpar. (E) relating to Commodity Futures Trading Commission. Pub. L. 107–123, § 8(d)(1)(B)(iii), added subpar. (E) relating to the Securities and Exchange Commission. 1996—Subsec. (a)(1)(B). Pub. L. 104–201 substituted “National Imagery and Mapping Agency” for “Central Imagery Office”. 1994—Subsec. (a)(1)(B). Pub. L. 103–359 inserted “the Central Imagery Office,” after “Defense Intelligence Agency,”. 1992—Subsec. (a)(1)(B). Pub. L. 102–496 inserted “, Department of Defense intelligence activities the civilian employees of which are subject to section 1590 of title 10,” after “National Security Agency”. Subsec. (a)(1)(D). Pub. L. 102–550 inserted “the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight of the Department of Housing and Urban Development,” after “Farm Credit Administration,”. 1990—Subsec. (a)(1)(D). Pub. L. 101–624 inserted reference to Farm Credit Administration. Subsec. (a)(2). Pub. L. 101–509 substituted “classified above GS–15 pursuant to section 5108” for “in GS–16, 17, or 18 of the General Schedule”. 1989—Subsec. (a)(1)(D). Pub. L. 101–73 added subpar. (D). 1988—Subsec. (a)(1)(B). Pub. L. 100–325, § 2(c)(1), inserted reference to Drug
Enforcement
Administration. Subsec. (a)(2)(iii). Pub. L. 100–235, § 2(c)(2), struck out cl. (iii) which read as follows: “any position in the Drug
Enforcement
Administration which is excluded from the competitive service under section 201 of the Crime Control Act of 1976 (5 U.S.C. 5108 note; 90 Stat. 2425);”. 1980—Subsec. (a)(1)(C). Pub. L. 96–187 added subpar. (C). 1979—Subsec. (a)(1)(B). Pub. L. 96–54 inserted “and,” after “Security Agency,”.
Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries
Effective Date
of 2010 AmendmentAmendment by Pub. L. 111–203 effective 1 day after July 21, 2010, except as otherwise provided, see section 4 of Pub. L. 111–203, set out as an
Effective Date
note under section 5301 of Title 12, Banks and Banking.
Effective Date
of 2008 Amendment Pub. L. 110–289, div. A , title I, § 1163, July 30, 2008, 122 Stat. 2782, provided that: “Except as otherwise specifically provided in this title [see Tables for classification], this title and the
Amendments
made by this title shall take effect on, and shall apply beginning on, the date of enactment of this Act [July 30, 2008].”
Effective Date
of 2002
Amendments
Amendment by Pub. L. 107–252 effective upon appointment of all members of the Election Assistance Commission under section 20923 of Title 52, Voting and Elections, see section 21134(a) of Title 52. Amendment by Pub. L. 107–123 effective Oct. 1, 2001, see section 11 of Pub. L. 107–123, set out as a note under section 78ee of Title 15, Commerce and Trade.
Effective Date
of 1996 AmendmentAmendment by Pub. L. 104–201 effective Oct. 1, 1996, see section 1124 of Pub. L. 104–201, set out as a note under section 193 of Title 10, Armed Forces.
Effective Date
of 1990 AmendmentAmendment by Pub. L. 101–509 effective on such date as the President shall determine, but not earlier than 90 days, and not later than 180 days, after Nov. 5, 1990, see section 529 [title III, § 305] of Pub. L. 101–509, set out as a note under section 5301 of this title.
Effective Date
of 1980 AmendmentAmendment by Pub. L. 96–187 effective on Jan. 8, 1980, see section 301(a) of Pub. L. 96–187, set out as a note under section 30101 of Title 52, Voting and Elections.
Effective Date
of 1979 AmendmentAmendment by Pub. L. 96–54 effective July 12, 1979, see section 2(b) of Pub. L. 96–54, set out as a note under section 305 of this title.
Effective Date
Section effective 9 months after Oct. 13, 1978, and congressional review of provisions of sections 401 through 412 of Pub. L. 95–454, see section 415(a)(1), (b), of Pub. L. 95–454, set out as a note under section 3131 of this title.
Construction
Pub. L. 112–166, § 2(hh), Aug. 10, 2012, 126 Stat. 1290, provided that: “Notwithstanding section 3132(a)(2) of title 5, United States Code, removal of Senate confirmation for any position in this section shall not— “(1) result in any such position being placed in the Senior Executive Service; or “(2) alter compensation for any such position under the Executive Schedule or other applicable compensation provisions of law.”
Reference
Citations & Metadata
Citation
5 U.S.C. § 3132
Title 5 — Government Organization and Employees
Last Updated
Apr 6, 2026
Release point: 119-73