1978: NOAA announces gender-neutral hurricane naming system
Federal News Network presents a daily update of important moments in the history of the U.S. government.
The Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act mandates that most positions within the federal government should be awarded on the basis of merit instead of political patronage. The law provided for the selection of some government employees by competitive exams, rather than ties to politicians or political affiliation. It also made it illegal to fire or demote these government officials for political reasons and created the U.S. Civil Service Commission to enforce the merit system. By the late 1870s, American politics operated on the spoils system, a political patronage practice in which officeholders awarded their allies with government jobs in return for financial and political support. In 1880, Ohio Democratic Sen. George Pendleton introduced legislation, which initially only applied to about 10% of federal employees but it now covers most federal employees. After a scandal involving government officials and contractors overpaid for star postal routes was exposed, as well as President James Garfield’s assassination by a deranged office seeker, public demand for reform increased. Though he had originally opposed civil service reform and had even benefited from the spoils system, President Chester Arthur signed the Pendleton Act on Jan. 16, 1883.
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