FMA has worked throughout 2021 to restore the Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB) to a fully functional status, including support of President Biden’s three nominees moves to fully staff the MSPB, ensuring that feds receive full protection and due process under the law. All three nominees have been cleared through the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee and await a full floor vote on the Senate for their long-overdue confirmation. Regrettably, no votes are currently scheduled on the Senate floor to confirm them and restore MSPB.

Most recently, on November 30, FMA and nineteen fellow organizations from the Federal-Postal Coalition sent a letter to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) urging the leaders to move forward on a confirmation vote. To read the full letter, please click here.

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.

FMA endorses all three nominees and feels they will be effective and fair judges in the cases that come before the MSPB. Restoring a quorum to the MSPB will allow them to begin working through a backlog currently totaling more than 3,200 unfinished cases.