YES! Trump fired Hampton Dellinger. Judge reinstated him. Dellinger asks MSPB to block the firing of 6 probationary federal employees. SCOTUS punts on Trump’s request to remove Dellinger anyhow. MSPB grants the stay. MAJOR WIN FOR FEDERAL WORKERS.
JUST IN: Merit Systems Protection Board stays Trump administration firing of 6 probationary employees, following complaint from @US_OSC. Doc: democracyforward.org/wp-content/u... Earlier: www.politico.com/news/2025/02...
democracyforward.org
February 26, 2025 at 3:28 AM
YES! Trump fired Hampton Dellinger. Judge reinstated him. Dellinger asks MSPB to block the firing of 6 probationary federal employees. SCOTUS punts on Trump’s request to remove Dellinger anyhow. MSPB grants the stay. MAJOR WIN FOR FEDERAL WORKERS.
BREAKING: En banc DC Cir. court of appeals reinstates members of the NLRB and MSPB that Donald Trump attempted to remove
April 7, 2025 at 12:25 PM
BREAKING: En banc DC Cir. court of appeals reinstates members of the NLRB and MSPB that Donald Trump attempted to remove
Judge Alsup says he's feeling "misled by the U.S. government" over a representation that fired employees had recourse via MSPB, but now notes that President Trump fired the special counsel and attempted to remove a board member of MSPB, depriving it of quorum.
March 13, 2025 at 3:25 PM
Judge Alsup says he's feeling "misled by the U.S. government" over a representation that fired employees had recourse via MSPB, but now notes that President Trump fired the special counsel and attempted to remove a board member of MSPB, depriving it of quorum.
In the hearing, plaintiffs pointed out that MSPB is adjudicatory.
If they can fire MSPB, Trump can fired judges, the argument goes.
If they can fire MSPB, Trump can fired judges, the argument goes.
May 22, 2025 at 9:00 PM
In the hearing, plaintiffs pointed out that MSPB is adjudicatory.
If they can fire MSPB, Trump can fired judges, the argument goes.
If they can fire MSPB, Trump can fired judges, the argument goes.
Trump can't outright fire Fed Chair Jerome Powell (SCOTUS said so in the MSPB/NLRB case), so he has to create "cause." That's what this investigation is about, as I mentioned here: bsky.app/profile/muel...
Trump is totally going to fire him, but b/c SCOTUS has said in an unrelated case that he can't, Trump has installed his favorite IG - Horowitz - who "lost" the Bove whistleblower complaints at DoJ, as the new Fed Reserve watchdog. Probs to look into that building cost flub where Powell corrected him
Powell: "Increased tariffs are pushing up prices in some categories of goods. Near-term measures of inflation expectations have moved up on balance over the course of this year on news about tariffs."
January 12, 2026 at 1:39 AM
Trump can't outright fire Fed Chair Jerome Powell (SCOTUS said so in the MSPB/NLRB case), so he has to create "cause." That's what this investigation is about, as I mentioned here: bsky.app/profile/muel...
Most Americans have never heard of the U.S. Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB). But what is happening with it could have major consequences for the federal workforce and for the courts.
July 1, 2026 at 12:23 AM
Most Americans have never heard of the U.S. Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB). But what is happening with it could have major consequences for the federal workforce and for the courts.
Can she also immediately stack the MSPB, NLRB, Postal Board, SEC, and FTC?
June 29, 2026 at 4:52 PM
Can she also immediately stack the MSPB, NLRB, Postal Board, SEC, and FTC?
Maurene Comey's push for discovery in her lawsuit (initially, to figure out whether Trump personally fired her or delegated his Article II authority to someone else to do so), describes a bunch of shenanigans at MSPB I had missed.
storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
December 2, 2025 at 8:08 AM
Maurene Comey's push for discovery in her lawsuit (initially, to figure out whether Trump personally fired her or delegated his Article II authority to someone else to do so), describes a bunch of shenanigans at MSPB I had missed.
storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
Probationary (competitive and excepted service) Title 5 employees cannot be terminated without cause. Terminations must be based on limited, clearly defined conditions that do not include discriminatory or political reasons. See Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB) for appeals.
www.mspb.gov
www.mspb.gov
U.S. Merit Systems Protection Board
MSPB Mission: To protect the Merit System Principles and promote an effective Federal workforce free of Prohibited Personnel Practices.
www.mspb.gov
February 8, 2025 at 4:18 PM
Probationary (competitive and excepted service) Title 5 employees cannot be terminated without cause. Terminations must be based on limited, clearly defined conditions that do not include discriminatory or political reasons. See Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB) for appeals.
www.mspb.gov
www.mspb.gov
Cathy Harris reinstated to the MSPB. This almost assuredly gets to SCOTUS soon, but MSPB has its quorum again for the moment.
BREAKING: En banc DC Cir. court of appeals reinstates members of the NLRB and MSPB that Donald Trump attempted to remove
April 7, 2025 at 12:54 PM
Cathy Harris reinstated to the MSPB. This almost assuredly gets to SCOTUS soon, but MSPB has its quorum again for the moment.
Walter, file that appeal with the MSPB…and then sue the living hell out of Patel for wrongful termination & defamation. Make his life utter hell.
August 9, 2025 at 11:51 AM
Walter, file that appeal with the MSPB…and then sue the living hell out of Patel for wrongful termination & defamation. Make his life utter hell.
Looks like there will be movement this weekend on the emergency effort by Cathy Harris (MSPB) and Gwynne Wilcox (NLRB) to reverse the decision that allows Trump to fire them.
March 29, 2025 at 1:42 PM
Looks like there will be movement this weekend on the emergency effort by Cathy Harris (MSPB) and Gwynne Wilcox (NLRB) to reverse the decision that allows Trump to fire them.
JUST IN: MSPB member Cathy Harris, who's suiing over Trump's attempt to fire her from a position overseeing civil service disputes, lines up #SCOTUS litigator Neal Katyal for likely high court fight
February 23, 2025 at 4:20 AM
JUST IN: MSPB member Cathy Harris, who's suiing over Trump's attempt to fire her from a position overseeing civil service disputes, lines up #SCOTUS litigator Neal Katyal for likely high court fight
Throwing federal workers out of work; busting their unions; disabling the NLRB & the MSPB; cratering consumer confidence -- these are the actions of an administration that wants workers to have to beg for scraps
April 3, 2025 at 3:06 PM
Throwing federal workers out of work; busting their unions; disabling the NLRB & the MSPB; cratering consumer confidence -- these are the actions of an administration that wants workers to have to beg for scraps
Judge: I got misled on jurisdiction because I relied on you" "I got misled by the USG on the efficacy of the MSPB"
March 13, 2025 at 3:25 PM
Judge: I got misled on jurisdiction because I relied on you" "I got misled by the USG on the efficacy of the MSPB"
Then he gets a bit snarky when addressing DOJ's hot and cold beliefs about whether MSPB was viable.
Definitely a *read the footnotes* opinion.
Definitely a *read the footnotes* opinion.
![14 Some might infer a relationship between the Government’s about-face and developments
at the MSPB and Office of Special Counsel. First, the Administration has been able to remove
members of the MSPB and the Special Counsel appointed by President Joseph R. Biden and
replace them with choices of its own. See Compl. ¶ 83; Harris v. Bessent, 160 F.4th 1235, 1256
(D.C. Cir. 2025), pet. for rehearing en banc denied, No. 25-5037, consolidated with 25-5055,
2026 WL 88114 (D.C. Cir. Jan. 9, 2026); Dellinger v. Bessent, No. 25-5052, 2025 WL 935211,
at *1 (D.C. Cir. Mar. 27, 2025). Second, President Trump issued an Executive Order decreeing
that all Executive Branch employees, including members of the MSPB and the Special Counsel,
must follow his or the Attorney General’s opinions on “matter[s] of law.” Exec. Order 14215
(Feb. 18, 2025) § 7; see id. §§ 1, 2(b), 5 (extending this mandate to “so-called” independent
agencies). But the Court need not and does not address here the import of those developments
— even though Comey relies on them to argue, in the alternative, that MSPB review should not
be required of her because it would be futile. See Comey Mem. 35-40; see also Nat’l Ass’n of
Immigr. Judges v. Owen, 139 F.4th 293, 305 (4th Cir. 2025) (remanding for factfinding on
whether “the text, structure, and purpose of the Civil Service Reform Act has been so
undermined that the jurisdiction-stripping scheme no longer controls”).](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:bbp2b224lro3bfnzcqwwnkfo/bafkreig42d4pmkkg7fdbowqwzur24evaehsqrxfcmczokzpq4cr4pf5ru4)
April 28, 2026 at 2:07 PM
Then he gets a bit snarky when addressing DOJ's hot and cold beliefs about whether MSPB was viable.
Definitely a *read the footnotes* opinion.
Definitely a *read the footnotes* opinion.
Plaintiffs point out that EZELL said in a memo that probationaries should be fired because they can't appeal to MSPB.
March 13, 2025 at 3:42 PM
Plaintiffs point out that EZELL said in a memo that probationaries should be fired because they can't appeal to MSPB.
BREAKING: The federal appeals court in DC has *unfired* members of the NLRB and MSPB that Donald Trump has been trying to remove despite laws protecting them from removal without cause.
Panel was divided 7-4.
Supreme Court could be next. Details TK
www.documentcloud.org/documents/25...
Panel was divided 7-4.
Supreme Court could be next. Details TK
www.documentcloud.org/documents/25...
April 7, 2025 at 12:17 PM
BREAKING: The federal appeals court in DC has *unfired* members of the NLRB and MSPB that Donald Trump has been trying to remove despite laws protecting them from removal without cause.
Panel was divided 7-4.
Supreme Court could be next. Details TK
www.documentcloud.org/documents/25...
Panel was divided 7-4.
Supreme Court could be next. Details TK
www.documentcloud.org/documents/25...
And the MSPB loses its quorum...
BREAKING: D.C. Circuit, on a 2-1 vote, allows for Trump's firing of members of multi-member independent boards — Gwynne Wilcox, National Labor Relations Board and Cathy Harris, Merit Systems Protection Board — to go into effect during appeals. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
March 28, 2025 at 7:33 PM
And the MSPB loses its quorum...
Here's the ruling in Wilcox/Harris (NLRB/MSPB) from about a year ago that foreshadowed today's rulings on firing members of multi-member boards. Yes to POTUS firing folks from every board except the federal reserve. They hinted at it last May.
I think I found it. Wilcox and Harris. www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/24p...
June 29, 2026 at 5:43 PM
Here's the ruling in Wilcox/Harris (NLRB/MSPB) from about a year ago that foreshadowed today's rulings on firing members of multi-member boards. Yes to POTUS firing folks from every board except the federal reserve. They hinted at it last May.
A while back, the Supreme Court mentioned as an aside that Trump could remove some boards’ members (MSPB, NLRB) but not the federal reserve board. That’s why Donald couldn’t fire Jerome Powell. Today, they solidified that by gutting Humphrey’s Executor but not for Lisa Cook.
Reuters: U.S. SUPREME COURT DECLINES TO LET TRUMP REMOVE FEDERAL RESERVE GOVERNOR LISA COOK
June 29, 2026 at 3:05 PM
A while back, the Supreme Court mentioned as an aside that Trump could remove some boards’ members (MSPB, NLRB) but not the federal reserve board. That’s why Donald couldn’t fire Jerome Powell. Today, they solidified that by gutting Humphrey’s Executor but not for Lisa Cook.
JUST IN: A 2-1 panel of the D.C. Circuit rules that Trump may remove members of the NLRB or MSPB regardless of laws meant to shield them from removal without cause.
Majority: Rao (Trump), Katsas (Trump)
Dissent: Pan (Biden)
storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
Majority: Rao (Trump), Katsas (Trump)
Dissent: Pan (Biden)
storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
December 5, 2025 at 3:21 PM
JUST IN: A 2-1 panel of the D.C. Circuit rules that Trump may remove members of the NLRB or MSPB regardless of laws meant to shield them from removal without cause.
Majority: Rao (Trump), Katsas (Trump)
Dissent: Pan (Biden)
storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
Majority: Rao (Trump), Katsas (Trump)
Dissent: Pan (Biden)
storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
"I might have made an error." He says he relied on government's representations that the MSPB was a remedy. He gives the parties to end of next week to brief this. Whether or not unions have standings, based on fact that "channel" (i.e., MSPB/FLRA) has been destroyed
March 13, 2025 at 4:25 PM
"I might have made an error." He says he relied on government's representations that the MSPB was a remedy. He gives the parties to end of next week to brief this. Whether or not unions have standings, based on fact that "channel" (i.e., MSPB/FLRA) has been destroyed
According to reporting by The New York Times, the Trump White House privately pressured the MSPB, the independent agency created by Congress to protect career civil servants from political interference.
July 1, 2026 at 12:23 AM
According to reporting by The New York Times, the Trump White House privately pressured the MSPB, the independent agency created by Congress to protect career civil servants from political interference.
In its decision allowing at-will presidential removal for immigration judges, the MSPB "has adopted a framework that, if taken to its logical conclusion, would render much of the civil service vulnerable to at-will removal," writes Peyton Baker, @nicholasbednar.bsky.social, and Amy Wildermuth.
MSPB Strikes Down Tenure Protections for Immigration Judges
The latest MSPB case poses significant concerns for the civil service.
www.lawfaremedia.org
April 4, 2026 at 6:00 PM
In its decision allowing at-will presidential removal for immigration judges, the MSPB "has adopted a framework that, if taken to its logical conclusion, would render much of the civil service vulnerable to at-will removal," writes Peyton Baker, @nicholasbednar.bsky.social, and Amy Wildermuth.