The Pendleton Act (1883)
A disappointed office-seeker shot President James Garfield in 1881, and he died months later. Congress responded with the Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act, which based federal hiring on merit exams instead of political loyalty. It ended the era when each new president handed government jobs to supporters.
A new Civil Service Commission began testing and protecting a slice of federal jobs from political firing.
Merit protection spread to most of the workforce and became the foundation of the modern career civil service.
Schedule Policy/Career revisits the line the Pendleton Act drew between career staff and political appointees. The fight is over which side of that line senior policy jobs fall on.
