In 5 U.S.C. § 3318(a) Congress mandated that:
“The nominating or appointing authority shall select for appointment to each vacancy from the highest three eligibles available for appointment on the certificate furnished under section 3317(a) of this title..."
This provision of law, also known as rule of three, enforces both merit systems principle # 1 and veterans preference requirement. However, federal agencies largely ignore the congressional mandate. See e.g. "The Rule of Three in Federal Hiring: Boon or Bane?", MSPB report, 1995.
MSPB itself declines to enforce that law on behalf of aggrieved veterans. See e.g. an article on that matter at http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/Papers.cfm?abstract_id=2434333
We ask that you use your executive power to enforce that law to its fullest extent.