This grievance board for federal workers has one person left -- and he's about to leave

[Eugene]

Source: Washington Post

This grievance board for federal workers has one person left — and he’s about to leave

By Lisa Rein February 12 at 12:22 PM

Mark Robbins soon will pack up his belongings from his sixth-floor corner office, ride the elevator to the lobby on M Street in downtown Washington for the last time, and leave behind 240 employees and a federal agency that could be leaderless.

His departure as acting chairman of the Merit Systems Protection Board, which serves as a personnel court for federal employees, raises an existential question: Can the board still live and function with no one at the top? The answer could determine whether thousands of federal workers will have their grievances heard.

Two of the board’s three seats have been vacant for the entire Trump administration. President Trump didn’t nominate a new board for more than a year — and then a Senate committee deadlocked last year on his picks. Now, the third seat could be empty, too, unless the Senate can confirm the same three people.

Experts say they’ve never heard of a similar case. At midnight on Feb. 28 — when a one-year extension of Robbins’s seven-year term expires — the board could enter uncertain legal territory. Justice Department attorneys have told Robbins that once he leaves, the office could be operating illegally.

House and Senate lawmakers, scrambling to head off a crisis, have scheduled hearings for this week.

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Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/this-grievance-board-for-federal-workers-has-one-person-left--and-hes-about-to-leave/2019/02/12/c573e446-296e-11e9-b011-d8500644dc98_story.html

[Panich52]

1. Another victim of Trump's push for anarchy by failing to fill necessary posts

[Cartaphelius]

2. Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB) has been neutered

since January 2017. Since then employees of the Federal Government
have been denied legal the representation previously provided by the
MSPB.

Currently, there is no relief in sight to ensure that Federal Agency's are
in compliance with Federal Law regarding all of their employees.

It was this initial decision by the Trump Administration to deny Federal
Employees access to a system of legal protection from Federal Agency's
abuse of Federal Employment Law that made clear that our nation is
headed for a fall.

Nothing since has altered the original assessment. In point of fact, it is
absolutely clear, now, that despite all the efforts made to save America
have failed and will ultimately result in our complete destruction as a
nation.