Definitions

(a) In this chapter:

(1) Excepted service has the meaning given that term by section 2103 of title 5, United States Code, and includes all positions in the Executive Branch of the Federal Government which are specifically excepted from the competitive service by or pursuant to statute, by the President, or by the Office of Personnel Management, and which are not in the Senior Executive Service. An employee encumbering an excepted position is in the excepted service, irrespective of whether the employee possesses competitive status.

(2) Excepted position means a position in the excepted service.

(b) In this part:

(1) Career position means a position that is not a noncareer position.

(2) Noncareer position means a position associated with an appointment that carries no expectation of continued employment beyond the Presidential administration during which the appointment occurred and whose occupant is normally, as a matter of practice, expected to resign upon a Presidential transition. This phrase encompasses all positions whose appointments involve preclearance by the White House Office of Presidential Personnel.

[91 FR 5653, Feb. 6, 2026]