The Trump administration is planning to change how federal employees challenge mass layoffs as President Donald Trump strives to shrink government.
The Office of Personnel Management will issue a proposed rule on how appeals of reductions in force (RIFs) are handled, according to a public notice released Monday. Under the proposal, OPM would take charge of those appeals, rather than them being heard by the Merit Systems Protection Board.
The venue change would further consolidate Trump’s hold on the federal workforce, with an agency run by his political appointees judging those layoff appeals. MSPB is considered an independent agency, meant to protect the civil service, with board members that serve across administrations.
“This rule proposes to return the venue to hear RIF appeals from MSPB to OPM, thereby honoring congressional intent and historical practice, improving the consistency of regulatory interpretation, and streamlining the RIF process by housing it from beginning to end at OPM,” the notice said.
