Justice
Management Division
Serving Justice - Securing Results
The statutes governing political recommendations for career positions
were amended in 1996. Under 5 U.S.C. § 2302(b)(2), an agency official
is permitted to solicit or consider a recommendation or a statement
from anyone, including a Member of Congress, consisting of an evaluation
of an individual's work performance, qualifications, ability, aptitude,
character, loyalty or suitability when the recommendation is based
on personal knowledge or records of the sender.
However, an agency official may not consider a recommendation from
a Senator or Member of Congress except as to the character or residence
of the applicant, unless the recommendation is based on personal
knowledge of the sender. 5 U.S.C. § 3303
By memorandum dated May 28, 1997,
Stephen R. Colgate, Assistant Attorney General for Administration,
provided guidance on this issue. Included with the memorandum is
guidance, in the form of questions and answers, from the Office
of Personnel Management. While the amended statutes do not require
an agency to return a prohibited letter of recommendation, it is
the Department's policy that all letters from Members of Congress
be answered with a standard reply which acknowledges receipt and
states that the applicant will receive appropriate consideration.
A sample reply is also attached to Mr. Colgate's memorandum.
Portable Document Format (PDF) files may be viewed
with a free copy of Adobe
Acrobat Reader |