The authority of the President to prescribe rules is added on authority of former section 633(1), which is carried into section 3302. The section is rewritten as a general prohibition instead of specifying each of the personnel actions to which the prohibition applies. The words “in an Executive agency or in the competitive service” are added for clarity. The sentence “All Acts or parts of Acts inconsistent herewith are repealed.” is omitted as unnecessary.

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

1978—Pub. L. 95–454, renumbered section 7152 of this title as this section.

1971—Pub. L. 92–187 designated existing provisions as subsec. (a) and added subsecs. (b) and (c).