are hired on the basis of their qualifications
Civil servants is another term for civilian federal employees.
federal employees hired on merit
Civil
Civil Servants
Federal employees hired on merit
Civil servants are employees of the government who are neither elected nor appointed.
Bureaucrats
The police and firefighters who are employed by a municipality, state, or federal government agency, are civil servants. Those who work for a non-governmental agency such as university or railroad police, or airport firefighters, may be employees of a private firm or may be government employees provided to the private firm under a government contract.
The common name for civil servant is known as "bureaucrat".
Saint Thomas More is the patron saint of civil servants, court clerks, government employees, lawyers.
Except for the ones that are employees of private contractors to Homeland Security, yes. If they are employed by the federal government they have federal employee status.
....are called civil servants.