U.S. Code » Title 5 » Part PART III— EMPLOYEES › Subpart Subpart B— Employment and Retention › Chapter CHAPTER 33— EXAMINATION, SELECTION, AND PLACEMENT › Subchapter SUBCHAPTER V— PROMOTION

5 U.S.C. § 3361

Promotion; competitive service; examination

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(a) In General.—An individual may be promoted in the competitive service only if he has passed an examination or is specifically excepted from examination under section 3302 of this title. This section does not take from the President any authority conferred by section 3301 of this title that is consistent with the provisions of this title governing the competitive service.(b)DOD Promotions.—Promotions in the competitive service within the Department of Defense may be made based on demonstrated skills and qualifications without regard to minimum time-in-grade requirements, subject to agency policies and applicable merit system principles.(Pub. L. 89–554, Sept. 6, 1966, 80 Stat. 426; Pub. L. 119–60, div. A, title XI, § 1110(c), Dec. 18, 2025, 139 Stat. 1076.)

Historical and Revision Notes

Derivation

U.S. Code

Revised Statutes and

Statutes at Large

 

5 U.S.C. 638 (as applicable to promotion).

Jan. 16, 1883, ch. 27, § 7 (as applicable to promotion), 22 Stat. 406.

The words “That after the expiration of six months from the passage of this act” are omitted as executed. The words “in the competitive service” are substituted for “in either of the said classes now existing, or that may be arranged hereunder pursuant to said rules” because of the definition of “competitive service” in section 2102. In the second sentence, the words “the provisions of this title governing the competitive service” are substituted for “this act”.

Standard changes are made to conform with the definitions applicable and the style of this title as outlined in the preface to the report.

Editorial NotesAmendments

2025—Pub. L. 119–60 designated existing provisions as subsec. (a), inserted heading, and added subsec. (b).

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 1 case, 2001–2001 · leading case: Hunt v. Off. of Pers. Mgmt., 20 F. App'x 902 (Fed. Cir. 2001).
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Hunt v. Off. of Pers. Mgmt., 20 F. App'x 902 (Fed. Cir. 2001). “§ 3313 for internal candidates passing an examination required by 5 U.S.C. § 3361 for promotion in the competitive services.”
Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.