United States 119th Congress Status: In Committee Bipartisan · 23 D · 2 I cosponsors

S 134 — Saving the Civil Service Act

Last action — Read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.

  1. ✓
    Introduced
  2. 2
    In Committee
  3. 3
    Passed Senate
  4. 4
    Passed House
  5. 5
    To Executive
  6. 6
    Enacted

This bill is in committee in the Senate. Introduced January 16, 2025. It must pass committee before a floor vote.

Next likely step: a committee vote, then a floor vote in the Senate.

Odds of enactment

Low chance

Based on the sponsor, cosponsors, and committee posture, this bill has a low chance of becoming law.

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A statistical estimate from our own model of past outcomes — an insight, not a guarantee. Policymaking is volatile.

Prognosis

Advancing 42% · moderate confidence

  • In Committee

    Current position in the legislative process.

  • 25 sponsors

    1 primary, 24 co-sponsors signed on.

  • Bipartisan support

    Sponsored across 2 parties (23 D · 2 I) — cross-party backing.

Based on stage, sponsorship breadth, committee status, recorded votes, and cross-state momentum — a description of the observable signals, not a prediction.

Summary

Saving the Civil Service ActThis bill generally prohibits changes to the classification of positions in the competitive service and excepted service unless certain conditions are met. (Competitive service positions are subject to competitive examination while excepted service positions are appointed under one of five schedules. Competitive service positions have notice and appeal requirements for adverse actions that are not applicable to most excepted positions, including those of a confidential, policy-determining, policy-making, or policy-advocating character under Schedule C.)On October 21, 2020, President Donald Trump issued an executive order that placed executive agency positions that are of a confidential, policy-determining, policy-making, or policy-advocating character, and that are not normally subject to change as a result of a presidential transition, under a new Schedule F in the excepted service. The order was subsequently revoked by President Joe Biden.The bill prohibits executive agency positions in the competitive service from being placed in the excepted service, unless such positions are placed in a schedule in the excepted service as in effect on September 30, 2020. The bill also prohibits positions in the excepted service from being placed in any schedule other than the aforementioned schedules.Additionally, agencies may not (1) transfer occupied positions from the competitive or excepted service into Schedule C without the consent of the Office of Personnel Management, or (2) transfer employees in the excepted service to another schedule or transfer employees in the competitive service to the excepted service without employee consent.

Bill Text

Action History

  1. Introduced in Senate

  2. Read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.

Sponsors

Sponsorship breakdown

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1 sponsors · 24 co-sponsors · 522 not signed on

Sponsors (1)

Co-sponsors (24)

Not signed on (522)

522 members have not signed on to this bill.

Show all 522 →

"Not signed on" means a member has not sponsored or co-sponsored this bill — it does not imply opposition. Members flagged Voted No have a recorded No vote on this bill.

Whip count is in markup. Polling the chamber and every recorded vote this session. Only the first open is slow. It’s instant for you after this. Calling the roll · Tallying · Engrossing

Subjects

civil-rights labor
Cross-referencing the record. Reading this bill against every other bill in the corpus by meaning, not keywords. Only the first open is slow. It’s instant for you after this. Matching · Ranking · Engrossing

Frequently asked questions

What does S 134 do?
Saving the Civil Service ActThis bill generally prohibits changes to the classification of positions in the competitive service and excepted service unless certain conditions are met. (Competitive service positions are subject to competitive examination while excepted service positions are appointed under one of five schedules. Competitive service positions have notice and appeal requirements for adverse actions that are not applicable to most excepted positions, including those of a confidential, policy-determining, policy-making, or policy-advocating character under Schedule C.)On October 21, 2020, President Donald Trump issued an executive order that placed executive agency positions that are of a confidential, policy-determining, policy-making, or policy-advocating character, and that are not normally subject to change as a result of a presidential transition, under a new Schedule F in the excepted service. The order was subsequently revoked by President Joe Biden.The bill prohibits executive agency positions in the competitive service from being placed in the excepted service, unless such positions are placed in a schedule in the excepted service as in effect on September 30, 2020. The bill also prohibits positions in the excepted service from being placed in any schedule other than the aforementioned schedules.Additionally, agencies may not (1) transfer occupied positions from the competitive or excepted service into Schedule C without the consent of the Office of Personnel Management, or (2) transfer employees in the excepted service to another schedule or transfer employees in the competitive service to the excepted service without employee consent.
Who sponsors S 134?
S 134 is sponsored by Kaine, Tim (Democratic), Sanders, Bernard (Independent), Markey, Edward J. (Democratic), Whitehouse, Sheldon (Democratic), Van Hollen, Chris (Democratic), Murray, Patty (Democratic), Shaheen, Jeanne (Democratic), King, Angus S., Jr. (Independent), Duckworth, Tammy (Democratic), Wyden, Ron (Democratic), Schatz, Brian (Democratic), Hickenlooper, John W. (Democratic), Fetterman, John (Democratic), Hirono, Mazie K. (Democratic), Warner, Mark R. (Democratic), Padilla, Alex (Democratic), Alsobrooks, Angela D. (Democratic), Warren, Elizabeth (Democratic), Durbin, Richard J. (Democratic), Schiff, Adam B. (Democratic), Luján, Ben Ray (Democratic), Blumenthal, Richard (Democratic), Merkley, Jeff (Democratic), Heinrich, Martin (Democratic), and Schumer, Charles E. (Democratic).
What is the current status of S 134?
This bill is in committee in the Senate. Introduced January 16, 2025. It must pass committee before a floor vote.
Where can I track S 134?
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