Title 5 — Government Organization and EmployeesRelease 119-84
§3320 Excepted service; government of the District of Columbia; selection
Title 5 › Part PART III— - EMPLOYEES › Subpart Subpart B— - Employment and Retention › Chapter CHAPTER 33— - EXAMINATION, SELECTION, AND PLACEMENT › Subchapter SUBCHAPTER I— - EXAMINATION, CERTIFICATION, AND APPOINTMENT › § 3320
Summary
Appointing officials must fill each excepted-service vacancy in the executive branch and District of Columbia from qualified applicants using the competitive service rules in sections 3308 through 3319; it excludes appointments Congress requires the Senate to confirm.
Full Legal Text
Title 5, §3320
Government Organization and Employees — Source: USLM XML via OLRC
The nominating or appointing authority shall select for appointment to each vacancy in the excepted service in the executive branch and in the government of the District of Columbia from the qualified applicants in the same manner and under the same conditions required for the competitive service by sections 3308 through 3319 of this title. This section does not apply to an appointment required by Congress to be confirmed by, or made with the advice and consent of, the Senate.
Legislative History
Notes & Related Subsidiaries
Historical and Revision Notes
DerivationU.S. CodeRevised Statutes andStatutes at Large 5 U.S.C. 858.
June 27, 1944, ch. 287, § 9, 58 Stat. 389. 5 U.S.C. 869.
June 27, 1944, ch. 287, § 20, 58 Stat. 391. Former section 858 and 869 are combined and restated for clarity and to conform to section 3318(a). The word “authority” is substituted for “officer” in recognition of the several appointing authorities named in section 2105(a)(1). The words “shall select for appointment to each vacancy in the expected service in the executive branch and in the government of the District of Columbia from the qualified applicants in the same manner and under the same conditions required for the competitive service by section 3308–3318 of this title” are substituted for “In the unclassified Federal, and District of Columbia, civil service, and in all other positions and employment hereinbefore referred to in (c) of section 851 of this title . . . shall make selection from the qualified applicants in accordance with the provisions of this chapter”. The reference to the excepted service “in the executive branch” is substituted for the exception of the legislative and judicial branches in former section 869. Former section 869 did not prohibit the application of those provisions of the Act of
June 27, 1944, which relate to the competitive service in the legislative or judicial branch by reason of the specific provisions of section 311 of the Act of
June 10, 1921, as amended (31 U.S.C. 52); 28 U.S.C. 602; and Executive Order No. 67 of
June 13, 1895. The reference to appointments of postmasters is omitted from this section since those referred to are in the competitive service. The application of former section 869 to the remainder of the Act of
June 27, 1944, is covered by the sections into which the remainder is carried (see Table I). This section merely continues, and does not in any way change, the requirements in former section 858 relative to the selection of applicants for positions in the excepted service. Under this section, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and other agencies having positions in the excepted service will continue to fill those positions in the same manner that they have been filled under former section 858. Such excepted appointments are appointments authorized to be made without regard to the statutes, rules, and
Regulations
governing appointments in the competitive service and this is not changed. Standard changes are made to conform with the definitions applicable and the style of this title as outlined in the preface to the report.
Editorial Notes
Amendments
Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries
Effective Date
of 2018 AmendmentAmendment by Pub. L. 115–232 effective on the date on which the Director of the Office of Personnel Management issues final
Regulations
for implementation, with such
Regulations
due not later than one year after Aug. 13, 2018, see section 1107(d) of Pub. L. 115–232, set out as an
Effective Date
of Repeal note under section 3317 of this title. Assistance of United States Civil Service Commission in Developing Merit System for District of Columbia Pub. L. 93–198, title VII, § 734, Dec. 24, 1973, 87 Stat. 823, authorized the United States Civil Service Commission to advise and assist the District of Columbia Mayor and Council in the further development of the merit system or systems required by the District of Columbia charter, which was approved on May 7, 1974, and authorized the Commission to enter into agreements with the District government to make available its registers of eligibles as a recruiting source to fill District positions as needed, with the costs of any specific services furnished by the Civil Service Commission to be compensated for under the provisions of section 685a of former Title 31, Money and Finance [31 U.S.C. 1537].
Reference
Citations & Metadata
Citation
5 U.S.C. § 3320
Title 5 — Government Organization and Employees
Last Updated
Apr 22, 2026
Release point: 119-84