5 U.S.C. § 9803

(a) None of the workforce authorities made available under this chapter may be exercised with respect to any officer who is appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate. (b) Unless specifically stated otherwise, all workforce authorities made available under this chapter shall be subject to section 5307. (c) (1) None of the workforce authorities made available under section 9804, 9805, 9806, 9807, 9809, 9812, 9813, 9814, or 9815 may be exercised with respect to a political appointee. (2) For purposes of this subsection, the term “political appointee” means an employee who holds— (A) a position which has been excepted from the competitive service by reason of its confidential, policy-determining, policy-making, or policy-advocating character; or (B) a position in the Senior Executive Service as a noncareer appointee (as such term is defined in section 3132(a)).