In 1789, the federal service employed approximately 300 individuals. By the end of the 19th century, it had reached 208,000. As a consequence of the First World War, this number rose to 900,000.
Between the wars, the workforce fluctuated between 5–600,000. The one million mark was surpassed in the early 1940s. A record 3.3 million people worked for the federal civil service by 1945. This figure then receded to 2.1 million by October 1946. In the early 19th century, positions in the federal government were held at the pleasure of the president—a person could be fired at any time.Most mechanics and laborers were per diem employees, paid by the day. The
spoils system meant that jobs were used to support the American political parties. For example employment during the early years of the
Washington Navy Yard vacancies for laborers mechanical and other skilled trade jobs were rarely publicly announced; instead they were typically filled through political connections, patronage, and personal influence. See 15 October 1808 letter from Secretary of the Navy
Robert Smith to Captain
Thomas Tingey Only on rare occasion would a dearth of skilled applicants require shipyard officers to place public notice in local newspapers; see thumbnail. In the 1840's and 1850's complaints at Brooklyn Navy Yard re apparent favoritism and blatant political patronage became public and were widely reported in the press. In October 1841, the Secretary of the Navy directed a Naval Court of Inquiry into the conduct of shipyard Commodore James Renshaw. The complainants claimed Renshaw had engaged in political patronage and had threatened to remove long service employees for being members of the
Whig Party on purely political grounds. They offered as evidence, a list of Brooklyn Navy Yard department heads purportedly compiled by the Commodore Renshaw with each employees name, and their supposed political affiliation. e.g "Administration" "Whig Party" and "Violent Whig". Those with a XX by their name were thought in eminent peril of removal, see thumbnail. The Secretary of the Navy directed a Court of Naval Inquiry to investigate the complaints preferred by the department heads and employees. The Court concluded that Commodore Renshaw had erred and he was removed from command. In 1859
Harpers Weekly published a widely read satirical sketch which mocked newly hired Brooklyn Navy Yard employees as part knaves, part fools all drunken, all ignorant of the duties required of workmen at the Navy Yard, but all capable of voting many time on election day..." This was gradually changed by the
Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act of 1883 and subsequent laws. By 1909, almost two-thirds of the U.S. federal workforce was appointed based on merit, that is, qualifications measured by tests. From 1816 through 1959, the federal government published a list of employees called the
Official Register. It started as a biennial list, and became yearly in 1925. As the number of employees grew, the
Register eventually started listing only higher-level employees. Certain senior civil service positions, including some heads of diplomatic missions and executive agencies, are filled by political appointees. Under the
Hatch Act of 1939, civil servants are not allowed to engage in political activities while performing their duties.
U.S. Civil Service Commission Public support in the United States for civil service reform strengthened after the 1881 assassination of President
James Garfield. In January 1883, the United States Civil Service Commission was created by the
Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act. The commission was created to administer the
civil service of the
United States federal government. The law required federal government employees to be selected through competitive exams and basis of merit. The law did not apply to state and municipal governments. Effective January 1, 1978, the commission was renamed the
Office of Personnel Management under the provisions of Reorganization Plan No. 2 of 1978 and the
Civil Service Reform Act of 1978.
Civil Service Reform Act of 1978 The 1978 act abolished the United States Civil Service Commission and created the U.S.
Office of Personnel Management (OPM), the
Federal Labor Relations Authority (FLRA) and the
U.S. Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB). The OPM primarily provides management guidance to the agencies of the executive branch and issues regulations that control federal human resources. The FLRA oversees the rights of federal employees to form collective bargaining units (unions) and to engage in collective bargaining with agencies. The MSPB conducts studies of the federal civil service and mainly hears the appeals of federal employees who are disciplined or otherwise separated from their positions. This act was an effort to replace incompetent officials. To this end, he implemented a variety of attempted reforms to root out "disloyalty", which some described as an attempt to politicize the civil service and re-implement the
spoils system.
First presidency In May 2018, President
Donald Trump signed three
executive orders intended to crack down on unions that represent federal employees and to make it easier to fire federal workers. In August 2018, after reviewing the executive orders in detail,
U.S. District Court Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson temporarily struck down most of the executive orders, ruling that they were an attempt to weaken federal labor unions representing federal employees. Judge Jackson's ruling was reversed by the DC Circuit on jurisdiction grounds, saying the unions should first have complained to the
Federal Labor Relations Authority. In October 2020, Trump signed an executive order that created a new category of federal employees,
Schedule F, which included all career civil servants whose job includes "policymaking". Such employees would no longer be covered by civil service protections against arbitrary dismissal, but would be subject to the same rules as political appointees. The new description could be applied to thousands of nonpartisan experts such as scientists, who give advice to the political appointees who run their departments. Heads of all federal agencies were ordered to report by January 19, 2021, a list of positions that could be reclassified as Schedule F. The
Office of Management and Budget submitted a list in November that included 88 percent of the office's workforce. Federal employee organizations and Congressional Democrats sought to overturn the order via lawsuits or bills. House Democrats warned in a letter that "The executive order could precipitate a mass exodus from the federal government at the end of every presidential administration, leaving federal agencies without deep institutional knowledge, expertise, experience, and the ability to develop and implement long-term policy strategies." Observers predicted that Trump could use the new rule to implement a "massive government purge on his way out the door". Schedule F was eliminated by President
Joe Biden on 22, January 2021, nullifying the personnel changes.
Second presidency In January 2025, the
second Trump administration, with the aid of the newly established
Department of Government Efficiency chaired by
Elon Musk, sent a
memo offering deferred resignation to all roughly two million federal employees, of which around 75,000 accepted.
Mass layoffs began in February of approximately 30,000 federal employees. In May 2025, the Trump administration unveiled federal hiring guidance (known as the
Merit Hiring Plan) limiting
resumé length to two pages and requiring applicants to write essays affirming their commitment to the Constitution, Trump’s executive orders, and government efficiency. In July 2025, OPM told agencies to deemphasize the essay asking applicants to praise a Trump executive order following a legal challenge. ==Civil servants in literature==