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| Agency overview | |
|---|---|
| Formed | January 1, 1979 (1979-01-01) |
| Preceding agency |
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| Jurisdiction | Federal government of the United States |
| Headquarters | Washington, D.C. |
| Agency executive |
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| Website | www |
TheMerit Systems Protection Board (MSPB) is an independentquasi-judicial agency established in 1979 to protect federal merit systems against partisan political and other prohibited personnel practices and to ensure adequate protection forfederal employees against abuses by agency management.[1]
When an employee of most Executive Branch agencies is separated from their position or suspended for more than 14 days, they can request that MSPB conduct a hearing into the matter by submitting an appeal, generally within 30 days.[2] In that hearing, the agency will have to prove that the action was warranted and the employee may present evidence that it was not. An MSPB decision is binding unless set aside on appeal to federal court. Along with theOffice of Personnel Management and theFederal Labor Relations Authority, the MSPB is a successor agency of theUnited States Civil Service Commission.
The board had noquorum for the entirefirst Trump administration, with the last member retiring at the end of February 2019.[3][4] A quorum resumed on March 4, 2022, upon the swearing in of Raymond Limon andTristan Leavitt.[5]
In 2025, the chair of the MSPB was fired by the second Trump administration, then sued and was reinstated by court order, then ordered the restoration of 5,600 employees fired during the2025 United States federal mass layoffs. The reinstatement was stayed by an appeals court in March 2025.
Generally, appeals are heard by theUnited States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, but appeals involving claims ofdiscrimination are heard infederal district court.[6]
The Board carries out its statutory mission by:
The largest settlement since the MSPB's inception was for $820,000 inRobert W. Whitmore v. Department of Labor.[7] The Board approved the settlement on June 5, 2013. Whitmore was fired after giving Congressional testimony that theOccupational Safety and Health Administration's workplace injury and illness program was deliberately ineffective. He had worked for theBureau of Labor Statistics for 37 years.
The largest settlement before Whitmore was for $755,000 to formerSecurities and Exchange Commission lawyerGary J. Aguirre for hiswrongful termination in 2005.[8] The SEC settled Aguirre's claim on June 29, 2009.[8]
In January 2011, the Board ordered theU.S. Park Police to reinstate its former chief,Teresa Chambers, who had been fired in 2004 for speaking to theWashington Post about the consequences of Park Police staff shortages. The Board also found her entitled to retroactive pay dating to 2004 and legal costs.[9]
The MSPB surveyed federal employees in 1992 and 2010.[10] The response rate was 64 and 58 percent, netting approximately 13,000 and 42,000 responses in the 1992 and 2010 surveys, respectively. One question asked, "During the last 12 months, did you personally observe or obtain direct evidence of one or more illegal or wasteful activities involving your agency?" In 1992, 17.7% of respondents answered yes. In 2010, 11.1% of respondents answered yes.[11]
In 1992, 53% of respondents who made a disclosure reported that they were identified as the source. In 2010, 43% reported that they were identified.[12] In both 1992 and 2010, about one-third of those who felt they had been identified as a source of a report of wrongdoing also perceived either threats or acts of reprisal or both.[13] To qualify for protection under the Whistleblower Protection Act, a person must be disclosing a violation of a law, rule, or regulation; gross mismanagement; a gross waste of funds; an abuse of authority; or a substantial and specific danger to public health or safety.[11] Only certain official personnel actions are prohibited; other forms of retaliation remain permissible.[12]
The Board has three members, nominated by thePresident of the United States, with theadvice and consent of the Senate, who serve seven-year terms. By statute (5 U.S.C. § 1201), "not more than 2 […] shall be adherents of the same political party". The chair of the board requires two separate Senate confirmations, one as a member of the board and one as chair. The president can designate a vice chair without Senate confirmation.[14] The permitted reasons for removal of Board members are "inefficiency, neglect of duty or malfeasance in office".[15]
The members of the MSPB as of October 28, 2025[update] are:
| Name | Party | Sworn in | Term expires |
|---|---|---|---|
| Henry Kerner (Vice Chair) (Acting Chair) | Republican | June 3, 2024 | March 1, 2030 |
| James Woodruff II | Republican | October 28, 2025 | March 1, 2032 |
| vacant | — | — | March 1, 2028 |
The MSPB was established during PresidentJimmy Carter's administration as an independent agency by Reorganization Plan No. 2 of 1978 (43FR36037, 92 Stat. 3783), effective January 1, 1979, in accordance with Executive Order 12107 (44FR1055), December 28, 1978, and theCivil Service Reform Act of 1978 (92 Stat. 1111), October 13, 1978.[16]
On the first day of his second term in January 2025, President Trump named a Republican as acting chair. In February 2025, Trump removed the chair of the board, Cathy Harris, a Democrat, who had served three years of her term, and demoted the other Democratic member.[15] Harris then sued the Trump administration, alleging that her removal was illegal.[17] On February 18, 2025, a U.S. District judge granted Harris's emergency motion and reinstated her temporarily.[18] Then on March 4, 2025, the same judge, citing U.S. Supreme Court cases from 1933 and 1953, entered a permanent injunction ordering that she be reinstated.[19]
On March 5, 2025, Harris ordered the reinstatement of 5,600 employees of the US Department of Agriculture who had been fired during the Trump administration's2025 United States federal mass layoffs.[20]
On March 27, 2025, a three-judge panel of theUnited States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit stayed the district court's injunction, with two judges finding that the Trump administration was likely to succeed on the appeal, and that the statutory restriction on the president dismissing members of the board was likely unconstitutional. This permitted Trump to dismiss Harris.[21] On June 30 2025, a Senate committee advanced James Woodruff, Trump's nomination to the MSPB board.[22]
As of mid-2025, the MSPB faces a surge in appeals—nearly doubling from 2024 levels—due to increased federal workforce reductions from the Trump administration, while simultaneously experiencing its lowest staffing in years.[23] As of May 2025, MSPB had received over 11,000 appeals, which is double the average amount they typically would receive a given year.[22]
There are complaints that the MSPB has gone beyond protecting civil servants from unjustified disciplinary action. Rather, critics allege, the MSPB makes it difficult to fire poor performers or problematic employees even when they have committed violations that would result in termination in the private sector. According to the CEO of thePartnership for Public Service, "There is no question that taxpayers are losing hundreds of millions of dollars, in a conservative estimate. They are losing more than that because they are losing the ability to get the very best out of government."[24][25]
According to statistics the MSPB compiled, 15,925 appeals were filed with the MSPB in 2014. Of those, 5,283 were dismissed, 1,093 were settled, and 9,549 were adjudicated by way of initial decisions by MSPB administrative judges and administrative law judges. In those initial decisions, the MSPB affirmed the employing agency's decision 9,348 times (nearly 98% of the time), modified the employing agency's decision or mitigated the penalty imposed 21 times, and reversed the employing Agency's decision 169 times (less than 2% of the time). The presidentially appointed Board members granted review of 170 initial decisions, remanding the case for further review in 112 cases, reversing MSPB administrative judges' and administrative law judges' initial decisions in 30 cases, affirming the initial decision in 18 cases, and taking another action in 10 cases.[26]
From January 7, 2017 to March 3, 2022, the MSPB lacked a quorum consisting of two members.[27][28][29] It is the longest the agency has been without a quorum in its history.[28] Without a quorum, the "Board will be unable to issue decisions that require a majority vote".[30] Effectively, this meant that no new substantive decisions were issued and the backlog of cases awaiting final disposition increased. As of March 2019, the last member's term had expired and the Senate had not acted on President Trump's nominations. With a vacant board, its general counsel becomes the acting executive and administrative officer, and administrative judges still hear cases and issue initial decisions.[31]
On March 4, 2022, President Biden's nominees Vice Chair Raymond Limon and Member Tristan Leavitt were sworn in to the MSPB, leading to the restoration of a quorum.[32]
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