On April 5, 2021, Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Va. and Rep. Jody Hice, R-Ga., the Chairman and Ranking Member, respectively, of the House Committee on Oversight and Reform’s Subcommittee on Government Operations, wrote to President Biden requesting that he prioritize nominating members to the Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB). We have discussed the lack of quorum in other blog posts and have multiple clients who are sadly all-too-familiar with the lengthy delays the lack of quorum has caused in receiving resolution to their appeals. Read the Letter Here.
The letter notes that the Board has been without a quorum since January 7, 2017, which has resulted in a “backlog of more than 3,000 petitions from federal employees requesting review of their allegations.”
The letter emphasizes the need for swift action in nominating Board members in order to prevent further and potentially more egregious impacts on the MSPB’s functioning, and to finally issue decisions for the thousands of impacted appellants who have been waiting years to receive decisions on their appeals. We continue to have hope that the nominations for Board members will be coming soon.