January 11, 2022, marked the five year anniversary without a quorum at the Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB). As the MSPB cannot finalize cases without a quorum, the backlog of unresolved cases has piled up over the last five years, now exceeding 3,400 cases. An unknown number of these cases, when finally heard, will be found in favor of employees who filed grievances for improper removal. This is incredibly concerning for two reasons.

The first reason is that justice delayed is justice denied. There will be people who will have spent at least five years out of the federal government when their case is finally heard. Their livelihoods will have been damaged, home lives disrupted. Forcing them to wait for judgement is unfair to the feds who filed grievances.

The other side of this coin is the impact on the agencies. Agencies may be required to pay out five years or more of back pay for cases found in favor of the filer, depending on how long the case has been sitting in purgatory. For agencies with budgets already reeling from the impacts of Covid-19 and mitigation requirements, and saddled with the expense of constant continuing resolution’s, this will hurt. The money has to come from somewhere, and it will have an impact.

Progress remains stalled. President Biden recently had to re-nominate Cathy Harris for MSPB Chair, as her nomination had gone too long without a confirmation vote from the Senate. The other two nominees, Raymond Limon and Tristan Leavitt, are currently held up while the Senate refuses to confirm one or two nominees without confirming all three at once.

The longer the MSPB Board sits vacant, the more the prospect of justice recedes. FMA will continue to urge Senate action to confirm the nominees and restore a working MSPB.