More on the Executive Orders

I've put the whole text of President Obama's press announcement of a series of executive orders and memoranda below the jump, and will post the text of the executive orders when they're available. The one I'm most looking forward to seeing in full is the Executive Order on Ethics Commitments by Executive Branch Personnel act, which the press release says "requires that government hiring be based upon qualifications, competence and experience, not political connections."

The press release isn't clear exactly which positions these requirements will apply to, or how they'll be applied. Obviously, these requirements already apply to civil servants. I'm sure the requirements come mostly out of the political hiring scandals at Justice.

But I think it's a good thing that Obama emphasized that troika of characteristics for hiring. It may seem incredibly self-evident to say that qualifications, competence, and experience should be used to determine who gets a job. But there are differences of opinion as to which of those characteristics matter most in hiring and promotions, particularly among people of different generations. What Obama suggests in this Executive Order is that education, time served in government, projects you've worked on, and demonstrated ability all matter in candidates for jobs or promotions. It'll be interesting to watch how those principles get transmitted to his agency heads and Chief Human Capital Officers.