Bush order allows direct hiring of military spouses

President Bush issued an order last week granting federal agencies the authority to bypass competitive hiring regulations to appoint spouses of military service members to civilian government jobs.

"It shall be the policy of the United States to provide for the appropriately expedited recruitment and selection of spouses of members of the armed forces for appointment to positions in the competitive service," Bush's executive order stated.

The order allows agency heads to make noncompetitive appointments to the following groups of people:

• Spouses of military service members who are on active duty under orders that authorize a permanent change of station move -- assuming the spouse is moving, too.
• Spouses of totally disabled retired or separated members of the armed forces.
• Widows or widowers (who have not remarried) of service members killed on active duty.

The order follows Bush's proposal in his State of the Union address in January that Congress work to expand benefits for military families.

"Our military families … endure sleepless nights and the daily struggle of providing for children while a loved one is serving far from home," Bush said. "We have a responsibility to provide for them. So I ask you to join me in expanding their access to child care, creating new hiring preferences for military spouses across the federal government, and allowing our troops to transfer their unused education benefits to their spouses or children."