Letter to the Chairman, Civil Service Commission, Upon Signing Order Establishing Special Personnel Procedures in the Interest of the National Defense

My dear Chairman Mitchell:

I have today signed an Executive Order, "Establishing special personnel procedures in the interest of the national defense."

Under this Order and under the Civil Service laws and rules the following should be provided:

(1) Competitive examinations should be utilized to establish registers of eligibles for appointment where in the opinion of the Commission the number of qualified applicants for positions of a particular type is adequate; where the Commission determines that there are for a given type of position an inadequate number of qualified applicants, the Commission should, for such time as it deems necessary, authorize noncompetitive examination procedures, subject to such limitations and minimum recruitment standards as the Commission may prescribe.

(2) To the maximum extent feasible examinations should be held open on a continuous basis so that qualified persons may compete for appointment at any time.

(3) The Civil Service Examining Boards and Committees should be given the fullest possible authority and utilized to the maximum; new boards and committees should be liberally authorized whenever the defense program will be speeded.

(4) Examining and certifying procedures should be constantly reviewed to devise ways to make them suitably flexible for the employment conditions encountered.

(5) The release of employees from permanent positions for employment in national defense activities and their subsequent reemployment in permanent positions when their services are no longer needed in those activities, should be governed by a single set of standards and conditions so that employees of all agencies, whether or not subject to the Civil Service laws, shall be treated alike.

(6) The Civil Service Commission should coordinate the civilian recruiting efforts of the Executive Branch agencies during the effective period of the Executive Order.

I am sure that all departments and agencies will cooperate to the fullest extent with the Civil Service Commission in carrying out its responsibilities under this Order and in its efforts to see that the highest possible recruitment standards are maintained.

Sincerely yours,

HARRY S. TRUMAN

[Honorable Harry B. Mitchell, Chairman, United States Civil Service Commission, Washington 25, D.C.]