Competitive service

The competitive service is a part of the United States federal government civil service. Applicants for jobs in the competitive civil service must compete with other applicants in open competition under the merit system administered by the Office of Personnel Management.

According to U.S. Code Title 5 §2102, The "competitive service" consists of—

Notably, the procedures for firing and demoting a member of the competitive service are considerable in order to protect the employment rights of the member, yet to provide the employer (the US government) a fair and incremental method to manage employees. A written notice of thirty days, a statement of reasons for dismissal, and a right to a hearing must be granted.

...
Wikipedia