Originally published MSPB faces high workload, low staffing levels on by https://federalnewsnetwork.com/management/2025/07/mspb-faces-high-workload-low-staffing-levels/ at Federal News Network
https://federalnewsnetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/mspb-gavel-1024x683.jpgFederal employees turned in droves to the Merit Systems Protection Board at the height of the Trump administration’s workforce upheavals earlier this year, but those employees will likely be waiting longer than usual to see their cases processed.
Administrative judges at MSPB, who adjudicate appeals from federal employees alleging prohibited personnel practices, have seen a flood of new cases land on their dockets, causing their caseloads to increase by the week. Since President Donald Trump took office, the average weekly number of new appeals has risen to roughly 468 — compared with an average of 96 weekly appeals federal employees were filing in the final few months of 2024.
A spokesperson for MSPB said the agency’s administrative judges are continuing to adjudicate cases and issue initial decisions at a “steady pace” at regional and field offices across the country. But at the same time that MSPB is experiencing its highest case volume in recent memory, the agency is also facing its lowest staffing levels in years.
“We anticipate these factors will impact case processing times,” an MSPB spokesperson told Federal News Network.
Nearly 12,000 federal employees have filed appeals with MSPB so far in fiscal 2025. Over 10,000 of those appeals were submitted after Trump took office. The vast majority of this year’s MSPB appeals arose during a one-month span between February and March, as the governmentwide firings of probationary federal employees took place.
There are still a few months left until the end of the fiscal year, but the some 12,000 appeals have already put MSPB at more than double the number of cases it typically sees annually. In 2024, MSPB received a total of 5,677 appeals for the entire year.
Some of the employee appeals from February and March, however, may no longer be relevant as many of the initial MSPB appeals have been enjoined or stayed by federal courts. In one case, a group of feds fired from the Department of Homeland Security was granted class certification.
Still, as MSPB administrative judges continue to work through the massive caseload, another spike of appeals likely lies ahead, according to Suzanne Summerlin, general counsel for the Federal Workers Legal Defense Project.
“MSPB is struggling to process this crush of a caseload now, and I think it will continue to struggle if the Trump administration actually starts targeting the agency and its employees with reductions in force,” Summerlin said in an interview. “MSPB was not designed to handle a wholesale winding down of the federal government.”
Governmentwide, the future of agency RIFs remain uncertain. A Supreme Court ruling last month determined that nationwide injunctions from federal district courts “likely exceed the equitable authority that Congress has granted” to those courts. But the recent decision likely won’t allow agency layoffs to continue across government, as RIFs remain indefinitely barred under a preliminary injunction.
“But if we see those injunctions lift, and we see that agencies are allowed to go ahead with these reorganizations — before the question is answered of whether these reorganizations are even legal — then we’re going to see a huge influx of cases again at the MSPB,” Summerlin said. “A lot of people are going to lose their jobs, and a lot of people are going to need to file to get help.”
Efforts to provide additional legal support to feds, such as the Federal Workers Legal Defense Project, emerged earlier this year after organizations saw a gap in the ability for the “normal support system,” including MSPB to manage the high volume of cases.
Much like the Federal Labor Relations Authority and other small agencies that deal with federal sector employment rights, Summerlin said “MSPB has been underfunded and cut to the bone for decades.”
Staffing levels at MSPB have been steadily declining for years. In fiscal 2018, MSPB had the capacity to staff 214 full-time employees. As of June 2025, that number is down to 174.
Data source: Merit Systems Protection Board. Chart created by Federal News Network.
MSPB’s staffing capacity will likely decrease further by the start of fiscal 2026. The agency projected that it would have 171 full-time equivalents (FTEs) by Oct. 1. In its 2026 congressional budget justification, MSPB said it hasn’t been able to fill critical vacancies and instead is only able to hire “on a prorated basis where the need is greatest at any given time.”
On top of those challenges, MSPB also continues to operate without a quorum of its three-member board, limiting some of the work the agency is able to accomplish. Henry Kerner, a Republican, is currently serving as the board’s only member. He was sworn into his position in June 2024 and became acting chairman of the board earlier this year.
The lack of a quorum began April 9 spurred by Trump’s termination of MSPB member Cathy Harris, a Democrat. Harris sued over her termination, and although she was initially reinstated, she was later removed again after an appeals court decision. The Supreme Court then upheld Trump’s firing of Harris and declined to reinstate her at MSPB.
The vast majority of MSPB’s operations can continue without a quorum of the board through the work of administrative judges and other MSPB staff members. But some specific actions at MSPB cannot be finalized until a quorum is restored.
Specifically, when a federal employee or an agency disagrees with the decision an administrative judge has issued on an appeal, either party can request a “petition for review” and have the case brought up to the MSPB’s three-member panel — and that’s where the work most noticeably stalls. When there is a loss of quorum at MSPB, the board cannot issue final decisions on petitions for review, and the cases will remain open until quorum is restored and a decision can be issued.
A restoration of a quorum at MSPB, however, may be drawing nearer. The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee advanced Trump’s MSPB nominee, James Woodruff II, along party lines on June 30. If he’s confirmed, Woodruff will take the board seat left vacant by MSPB member Raymond Limon, who retired from the position in late February.
“I am honored that President Donald J. Trump nominated me for to fill the position of member of the Merit Systems Protection Board,” Woodruff wrote in June 5 testimony for HSGAC. “If confirmed, I look forward to the opportunity to work closely with the other board member, Henry Kerner, to protect the federal civil services’ merit-based system.”
If you would like to contact this reporter about recent changes in the federal government, please email [email protected] or reach out on Signal at drewfriedman.11
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Originally published MSPB faces high workload, low staffing levels on by https://federalnewsnetwork.com/management/2025/07/mspb-faces-high-workload-low-staffing-levels/ at Federal News Network
Originally published Federal News Network
