President Biden has recently nominated Tristan Leavitt as the third and final member of the Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB). On paper, the MSPB is an independent, quasi-judicial federal agency that exists to hear appeals from federal employees who are subjected to adverse actions by their agency; for example, a whistleblower who was subjected to a suspension or demotion as a result of their actions would appeal their case to the MSPB. Unfortunately, “on paper” is the main place that the MSPB has existed for several years now. The last time the MSPB had a quorum and was able to finalize decisions was in January 2017, more than four years ago. The term of the final member on the board expired in 2019, leaving the MSPB completely without members for more than two years.

President Biden previously nominated Cathy Harris as Chair and Raymond Limon as Vice Chair, with Tristan Leavitt as the final member of the board. FMA strongly endorses all three nominees and feels they will be effective and fair judges in the cases that come before the MSPB. Confirming Harris and Limon would restore a quorum to the MSPB and allow them to begin working through a backlog currently totaling more than 3,200 unfinished cases. FMA has worked tirelessly to restore MSPB to a fully functional status, and we applaud the President’s moves to fully staff the MSPB, ensuring that feds receive full protection and due process under the law. FMA urges Congress to act as swiftly as possible to confirm these nominees and restore the MSPB to operational status.