Implementation

• A response to the assassination of President James A. Garfield by a discouraged federal job seeker, the Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act was written by Dorman B. Eaton and sponsored by Senator George H. Pendleton of Ohio. President Chester A. Arthur signed the act into law on January 16, 1883.
  
  

U.S. Civil Service Commission

• The U.S. Civil Service Commission (now the U.S. Office of Personnel Management) ended the spoils system of federal hiring, which awarded winning party voters with employment at the advent of each new administration. The Civil Service Commission ensured that federal employees applied for jobs based upon competitive, merit-based exams.
  
  

Other Features

• The Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act blocked federal appointees from firing or demotion based upon political affiliation. The act also ended the practice of garnishing federal employee wages for political party causes, and prohibited solicitation of campaign donations on federal government property.
  
  

The Pendleton Civil Services Reform Act Today

• At the time of its signing, the Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act covered 10 percent of federal government employees. As of 2010, the act covered more than 90 percent of federal employees.