118 HR 3115 IH: Public Service Reform Act
U.S. House of Representatives
2023-05-05
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EN
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I
118th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 3115
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
May 5, 2023
Mr. Roy (for himself, Mrs. Houchin, Mr. Ogles, Mr. Nehls, Mr. McClintock, Mrs. Boebert, Mr. Duncan, Mr. Davidson, Mr. Bishop of North Carolina, Mr. Good of Virginia, Ms. Hageman, and Mrs. Luna) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Oversight and Accountability
A BILL
To provide that all Federal employees in the executive branch of the Federal Government are at-will employees, and for other purposes.
1.

Short title
This Act may be cited as the “Public Service Reform Act”.
2.

At-will employment for Federal executive branch employees
(a)

Definitions
In this section—
(1)
the term adverse personnel action means, with respect to an employee, a removal, a suspension for more than 14 days, a reduction in grade, a reduction in pay, or a furlough of 30 days or less;
(2)
the term career employee means any employee who is not a political appointee;
(3)
the term covered position has the meaning given the term in section 2302(a)(2)(B) of title 5, United States Code;
(4)
the term employee—
(A)
has the meaning given the term in section 2105 of title 5, United States Code; and
(B)
includes—
(i)
an officer or employee of the United States Postal Service or the Postal Regulatory Commission; and
(ii)
notwithstanding subsection (b) of section 7425 of title 38, United States Code, any employee described in subsection (a) of such section 7425; and
(5)
the term political appointee means any employee who—
(A)
is appointed by the President;
(B)
is a noncareer appointee (as that term is defined in section 3132(a)(7) of title 5, United States Code);
(C)
occupies a position under schedule C of subpart C of part 213 of title 5, Code of Federal Regulations, or any successor regulations; or
(D)
occupies any other position in the civil service (as that term is defined in section 2101 of title 5, United States Code) that is classified as a political position after the date of enactment of this Act under regulations prescribed by the Director of the Office of Personnel Management.
(b)

At-Will employment
(1)

In general
Notwithstanding any other provision of law, rule, or regulation, and except as provided in paragraph (2), any employee in the executive branch of the Federal Government—
(A)
shall be considered at-will;
(B)
may be subject to any adverse personnel action (up to and including removal) for good cause, bad cause, or no cause at all; and
(C)
may not challenge or otherwise appeal an action described in subparagraph (B), except as provided in subsections (c) and (g).
(2)

Limitation
An employee may not be subject to any adverse personnel action under this Act for a reason that is prohibited under section 2302(b) of title 5, United States Code.
(3)

Procedures
(A)

In general
The President shall establish procedures to enforce compliance with paragraph (2).
(B)

Rule of construction
Nothing in this paragraph may be construed to grant an employee the right to review or appeal an adverse personnel action outside of the procedures described in subparagraph (A), subsection (g), or subsection (h), as applicable.
(c)

Removal of career employees
With respect to the removal of a career employee, the following procedures shall apply:
(1)
Before the applicable agency removes the career employee—
(A)
the agency official authorized to propose such action (referred to in this subsection as the “proposing official”) shall provide the career employee with written notification of the proposed removal and the reasons for the proposed removal; and
(B)
the career employee shall have 14 days to provide a written response to the notification received under subparagraph (A), except that the head of the applicable agency shall have sole and exclusive discretion to alter that response period on a case-by-case basis.
(2)
Under procedures prescribed by the applicable agency head, in the sole and exclusive discretion of the agency head, an agency official (who, except when the proposing official is the agency head, shall be an agency official other than the proposing official) (referred to in this subsection as the “deciding official”)—
(A)
shall review the proposed removal and the response of the career employee under paragraph (1);
(B)
may, in the sole and exclusive discretion of the deciding official, conduct a hearing on the matter; and
(C)
after the review conducted under subparagraph (A), and any hearing conducted under subparagraph (B), shall decide whether to remove or retain the career employee.
(3)
The determination of a deciding official under paragraph (2) shall be the final decision of the applicable agency with respect to the career employee, unless, not later than 7 days after the date on which the deciding official makes that determination, the agency head reverses the determination of the deciding official, in which case the decision of the agency head shall be the final agency decision.
(4)
The final decision of an agency under paragraph (3) shall be final and not subject to any appeal or challenge, except that the President may overrule that final decision of the agency in accordance with such procedures or regulations as the President may prescribe.
(d)

Application
Chapter 43 of title 5, United States Code, shall not apply to any personnel action taken with respect to an employee under this Act.
(e)

Abolishment of MSPB
(1)

In general
Effective on the date of enactment of this Act, the Merit Systems Protection Board (referred to in this subsection as the “Board”) is hereby abolished.
(2)

Disposal of assets, obligations, and liabilities
The Chairman of the Board may take such actions as are necessary to dispose of the assets, obligations, and liabilities of the Board.
(f)

Technical and conforming amendments
(1)

Repeal
The following provisions of title 5, United States Code, are hereby repealed:
(A)
Subchapter I of chapter 12.
(B)
Section 1212(c).
(C)
With respect to section 1214, the following provisions:
(i)
Subsection (b)(1).
(ii)
Subparagraphs (B) through (D) of subsection (b)(2).
(iii)
Paragraphs (3) and (4) of subsection (b).
(iv)
Subsections (c), (g), and (i).
(D)
Sections 1215 and 1221.
(E)
Section 4303.
(F)
Chapter 75.
(G)
Chapter 77.
(2)

Other amendments
Chapter 71 of title 5, United States Code, is amended—
(A)
in section 7103(a)(14)—
(i)
by redesignating subparagraphs (B) and (C) as subparagraphs (C) and (D), respectively; and
(ii)
by inserting after subparagraph (A) the following:
“(B)
relating to adverse personnel actions, as provided by the Public Service Reform Act;”; and
(B)
in section 7121(c), by amending paragraph (3) to read as follows:
“(3)
any adverse personnel action under the Public Service Reform Act;”.
(g)

Whistleblower protections
(1)

In general
During the period described in subsection (c)(1)(B), the Office of Special Counsel may make a recommendation to the applicable agency head or deciding official (as described in subsection (c)(2)) regarding whether an adverse personnel action proposed against an individual was in retaliation for making a disclosure described in section 2302(b)(8) of title 5, United States Code.
(2)

Appeal
(A)

In general
An individual in a covered position who is subject to an adverse personnel action and who claims that action was taken for a reason prohibited under paragraph (8) or (9) of section 2302(b) of title 5, United States Code, may appeal that action to the United States court of appeals in the circuit in which the duty station of the individual is located.
(B)

Decision
(i)

Frivolous or bad faith appeal
If the court, in an appeal brought by an individual under subparagraph (A), finds that the appeal is brought in bad faith or is frivolous, the annuity of the individual under chapter 83 or 84 of title 5, United States Code, shall be reduced by 25 percent.
(ii)

Successful appeal
If an individual prevails in an appeal brought under subparagraph (A), the individual shall—
(I)
be placed, as nearly as possible, in the position the individual would have been in had the adverse personnel action not been taken against the individual; and
(II)
be reimbursed for—
- (aa)
attorney fees, back pay, and related benefits in accordance with section 5596 of title 5, United States Code; and
- (bb)
medical costs incurred, travel expenses, any other reasonable and foreseeable consequential damages, and compensatory damages (including interest, reasonable expert witness fees, and costs).
(h)

EEOC appeals
Notwithstanding any other provision of law, including section 717 of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000e–16), an individual who is an employee (or an applicant for a position as an employee) and who alleges that the individual was subject to an adverse personnel action that is a prohibited personnel action described in section 2302(b)(1) of title 5, United States Code, shall seek relief for that action from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission as if that individual were an employee of an employer, as that term is defined in section 701 of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000e).