[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 34 (Monday, February 25, 2019)]
[House]
[Pages H2062-H2064]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   MSPB TEMPORARY TERM EXTENSION ACT

  Mr. CONNOLLY. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the 
bill (H.R. 1235) to provide that the term of office of certain members 
of the Merit Systems Protection Board shall be extended by a period of 
1 year, to limit such members from concurrently holding positions 
within the Federal Government, and for other purposes, as amended.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The text of the bill is as follows:

                               H.R. 1235

       Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
     the United States of America in Congress assembled,

     SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

       This Act may be cited as the ``MSPB Temporary Term 
     Extension Act''.

     SEC. 2. MERIT SYSTEMS PROTECTION BOARD MEMBERS: TERM 
                   EXTENSION AND LIMITATION ON SERVICE.

       The term of office of any member of the Merit Systems 
     Protection Board appointed under section 1202 of title 5, 
     United States Code, serving as such a member on the date of 
     enactment of this Act shall be extended for a period of one 
     year beyond the date the member's service would otherwise end 
     under subsection (c) of such section.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
Virginia (Mr. Connolly) and the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Hice) each 
will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Virginia.


                             General Leave

  Mr. CONNOLLY. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members 
may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks 
and include extraneous material on this measure.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Virginia?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. CONNOLLY. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I thank House leadership for bringing H.R. 1235, the 
MSPB Temporary Term Extension Act, so quickly to the floor at the 
request of the Committee on Oversight and Reform.
  Chairman Cummings and I introduced this bill to prevent a potential 
crisis at the Merit Systems Protection Board, a vacant Board without 
any members. Acting Chairman Mark Robbins is and has been the sole 
member on the Board since January 2017. His holdover term expires at 
the end of this month, the 28th of February, and it cannot be extended 
without legislation. We planned to address this issue through regular 
order, but circumstances arose that prevented us from doing so.
  The subcommittee I am going to chair originally scheduled a hearing 
to examine the problem on February 14, but the hearing was postponed to 
the end of this month to allow all Members to attend the funerals of 
our colleagues John Dingell and Walter Jones.
  We hoped that the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs 
Committee would take action to address the problem during its business 
meeting on February 20. Although the Senate committee was able to 
approve two nominees for the Board, Chairman Johnson indicated he would 
withhold those nominations from the Senate floor pending the naming of 
a third nominee by the White House.
  The Senate committee was also reportedly working on language to 
extend Mr. Robbins' holdover term for another year, but no legislation 
was considered at the markup, thus our action today.
  Given these events, it appears less and less likely that the Senate 
will be able to confirm new Board members before time runs out this 
Thursday. That is why the Committee on Oversight and Reform, Chairman 
Cummings and I, introduced this stopgap measure, H.R. 1235, to ensure 
some work by the MSPB will continue. The legislation will provide a 
one-time, 1-year extension for Mr. Robbins' term to give the Senate 
more time to confirm the additional Board members.
  This version of the bill before us eliminates the provision 
prohibiting dual appointments because Mr. Robbins assured us he would 
continue to recuse himself from working on matters related to OPM and 
that he would recuse himself from OPM matters that related to votes he 
had taken at MSPB if this bill is enacted.
  This amendment is in response to many of the concerns raised by our 
Republican friends.
  We urgently need to pass this bill because we need to ensure that 
MSPB can continue its operations. If Mr. Robbins' term expires without 
new members confirmed, it will be the first time in the agency's 
history that the Board has no members at all. We will be entering 
uncharted new territory, and not good territory.
  If there is no principal officer to lead the agency, not only is it 
unclear

[[Page H2063]]

which agency functions may continue and which ones must be suspended, 
but, also, whether the entire agency must shut down completely. Mr. 
Speaker, I urge my colleagues not to risk that shutdown.
  There is a lot at stake here. MSPB protects whistleblowers from 
retaliation, veterans from job discrimination, and Federal employees 
from prohibited personnel practices. The agency ensures that the 
Federal civil service is nonpartisan and complies with the merit system 
principles.
  Since 2017, MSPB has been operating under certain constraints without 
a quorum on the Board. This has prevented the Board from hearing final 
appeals of agency adverse actions.
  The absence of a quorum has also prevented the Board from issuing 
special studies of the civil service and reviews of OPM rules and 
regulations, as is required. This has resulted in a backlog, Mr. 
Speaker, of 2,000 final appeals which will take more than 3 years to 
process and eight Merit Systems studies pending issuance by the Board.
  The current situation is certainly less than ideal, but let's not 
make it worse by doing nothing and creating a complete vacancy on the 
Board.
  This would cause decisions made by Mr. Robbins, by the way, to be 
voided, exacerbating the backlog, and any new Board members who are 
finally confirmed would have to start again from square one.
  We should not and cannot allow that to happen. Addressing the problem 
should be a bipartisan concern, and I believe it is. We cannot let 
politics prevent MSPB from doing its job.
  The bill in front of us is supported by the American Federation of 
Government Employees, the National Treasury Employees Union, the 
National Federation of Federal Employees, the Government Accountability 
Project, Public Citizen, Project on Government Oversight, the Make It 
Safe Coalition, the Senior Executives Association, and the National 
Taxpayers Union.
  Mr. Speaker, I include in the Record letters of support from those 
organizations and a coalition of other stakeholders.
         American Federation of Government Employees, AFL-CIO,
                                Washington, DC, February 22, 2019.
     Hon. Elijah E. Cummings,
     Chairman, House Committee on Oversight and Reform, 
         Washington, DC.
     Hon. Jim Jordan,
     Ranking Member, House Committee on Oversight and Reform, 
         Washington, DC.
       Dear Chairman Cummings and Ranking Member Jordan: On behalf 
     of the American Federation of Government Employees. AFL-CIO 
     (AFGE), I am writing to urge support for the ``Merit Systems 
     Protection Board (MSPB) Temporary Term Extension Act,'' 
     introduced by Congressman Elijah Cummings (D-MD). This 
     legislation would allow the term of the current and only MSPB 
     member to be extended and avoid having a vacant Board.
       An employee may appeal an adverse action to the MSPB, a 
     third-party agency that hears and adjudicates civil service 
     appeals. MSPB administrative judges (AJs) hear the matter in 
     an adversarial setting and decide the case in accordance with 
     established legal precedents. If dissatisfied with the AJ's 
     decision. either the agency or the employee may appeal the 
     decision to the full three Member MSPB. Currently, the Board 
     does not have a quorum. Mark Robbins is the only member on 
     the Board and his term expires on February 28, 2019. Robbins' 
     original term ended in March 2018, and he is currently 
     serving under a maximum one-year statutory extension.
       When Robbins' term expires, the Board will have no 
     Presidentially-appointed members. The ``MSPB Temporary Term 
     Extension Act.'' would allow for Robbins to extend his term 
     for one additional year and avoid having an MSPB with no 
     members. AFGE believes that the MSPB serves an important role 
     in upholding the Merit Systems Principles and the rights of 
     federal employees. Therefore, AFGE strongly urges you to 
     support the ``MSPB Temporary Term Extension Act.'' to allow a 
     temporary carryover of the current and only member of the 
     MSPB. Thank you.
           Sincerely,
                                                J. David Cox, Sr.,
                                               National President.
         NTEU, The National Treasury Employees Union,
                                Washington, DC, February 19, 2019.
     Hon. Elijah E. Cummings,
     Chairman, House Committee on Oversight and Reform,
     House of Representatives, Washington, DC.
       Dear Chairman Cummings: On behalf of the National Treasury 
     Employees Union (NTEU), representing over 150,000 federal 
     employees in 33 agencies, 1 write to applaud your efforts to 
     support the important work performed by the Merit Systems 
     Protection Board (MSBP or Board) and ensure that it can 
     continue. We believe that your bill, the MSPB Temporary Term 
     Extension Act, is the appropriate response to address the 
     impending loss of leadership at the Board.
       As you know, Mark Robbins is the Acting Chairman and the 
     only Member left on the Board. His original term expired last 
     year and his holdover year will expire on February 28, 2019. 
     Given the uncertainty regarding the operations of the Board 
     once Mr. Robbins' term ends, we appreciate that your bill 
     would temporarily allow Mr. Robbins to remain on the Board 
     for a short period of time while the President's nominees for 
     the MSPB undergo Senate consideration. We also appreciate 
     that the bill stipulates that the individual who would be 
     allowed to extend their term would be unable to hold another 
     position in the government at the same time.
       NTEU fully supports your carefully crafted temporary 
     extension bill and we appreciate your efforts to safeguard 
     the employee protections envisioned in the Civil Service 
     Reform Act. Thank you.
           Sincerely,
                                                Anthony M. Reardon
     National President.
                                  ____

                                                February 25, 2019.
     Hon. Elijah Cummings,
     Chairman, Committee on Oversight and Reform, Washington, DC.
     Hon. Gerald Connolly,
     Chairman, Subcommittee on Government Operations, Washington, 
         DC.
     Hon, Jim Jordan,
     Ranking Member, Committee on Oversight and Reform, 
         Washington, DC.
     Hon. Mark Meadows,
     Ranking Member, Subcommittee on Government Operations, 
         Washington, DC.
       Dear Chairman Cummings, Ranking Member Jordan, Chairman 
     Connolly, and Ranking Member Meadows: On behalf of the 
     undersigned organizations, who all strongly value and support 
     our nation's professional nonpartisan civil service, we write 
     to express our concerns about the future of the Merit Systems 
     Protection Board (MSPB) and convey our support for H.R. 1235.
       As you know, the Board has already operated under 
     unprecedented circumstances, lacking a quorum for nearly two 
     full years. The result has been a backlog of nearly 2,000 
     cases and a delay in justice for federal employees, 
     whistleblowers, veterans, and federal annuitants with matters 
     before the Board, as well as a lack of closure for agencies 
     in personnel matters. Moreover, due to the lack of quorum the 
     Board has been unable to issue official reports or studies to 
     Congress and the President during a critical time in which 
     there is growing appreciation for the imperative of 
     modernizing our civil service.
       On February 13 the Senate Homeland Security and 
     Governmental Affairs Committee advanced two of the 
     President's MSPB nominees, yet they are still awaiting floor 
     action pending nomination of a third Board member by the 
     President. Should the Senate be unable to approve the Board 
     nominees and restore a quorum, effective March 1 the Board 
     would be without any Senate-confirmed leadership for the 
     first time in its history, due to the expiration of acting 
     chairman Mark Robbins' holdover period.
       In order to ensure that the Board can continue operations 
     at the most basic levels, including the critical role in 
     issuing stays in whistleblower cases, passage of legislation 
     to extend the holdover period for the Board is imperative. We 
     strongly urge passage of H.R. 1235 to prevent the current 
     crisis with the Board from doing permanent damage to the 
     merit system and the civil service.
       Thank you for your consideration of our perspective on this 
     critical matter.
           Sincerely,
         FAA Managers Association (FAAMA), Federal Managers 
           Association (FMA), Government Accountability Project 
           (GAP), Tom Devine, Liberty Coalition, National Council 
           of Social Security Management Associations (NCSSMA), 
           National Federation of Federal Employees (NFFE), 
           National Taxpayers Union, National Whistleblower 
           Center, Professional Managers Association (PMA), 
           Project on Government Oversight (POGO), Public Citizen, 
           Senior Executives Association (SEA), Taxpayer 
           Protection Alliance, Union of Concerned Scientists, 
           Whistleblowers of America.

  Mr. CONNOLLY. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to join me in 
supporting H.R. 1235, a commonsense stopgap measure to prevent serious 
injury to hardworking civil servants who expect the Merit Systems 
Protection Board to function.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. HICE of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise today to speak on H.R. 1235, the MSPB Temporary 
Term Extension Act.
  My colleagues on the other side of the aisle know that I personally 
am committed to ensuring the successful operation of the Merit Systems 
Protection Board, also known as MSPB. In fact, last Congress, I 
introduced H.R. 6391, the MSPB Reauthorization Act of 2018. My bill 
would have reauthorized the Board and made other vital reforms. The 
Committee on Oversight

[[Page H2064]]

and Government Reform reported the bill favorably, but without a single 
vote from my colleagues on the other side of the aisle.
  We all know an effective and functional MSPB is important to the 
health of our Federal workforce. MSPB's primary responsibility is to 
adjudicate appeals of Federal personnel actions. MSPB also plays a 
vital role in Federal whistleblower protections.
  To be effective and issue decisions, MSPB needs at least a two-member 
quorum, but the Board has not had a quorum for over 2 years. In January 
2017, Mark Robbins, as my friend mentioned, become the sole remaining 
member of MSPB.
  Last year, Mr. Robbins' 7-year term came to an end, and he was 
granted a 1-year extension as authorized by law, but that extension 
ends this week. Starting Friday, the MSPB will be without a single 
Board member.
  My colleagues claim this bill is an emergency measure to prevent the 
MSPB from extending this crisis of leadership, but I disagree. The real 
problem is the lack of a quorum.
  Without a quorum for the last 2 years, a backlog of undecided appeals 
has grown to over 1,700 cases. Mr. Robbins cannot fix that problem on 
his own. His continued tenure will not resolve those cases.
  In December, the President selected Mr. Robbins to serve as the 
general counsel at the Office of Personnel Management, so for the last 
10 weeks, he has served in both capacities at OPM and MSPB. Mr. Robbins 
is planning to serve at OPM in his full capacity beginning this Friday.
  Mr. Robbins has stayed at MSPB as long as he has out of a sense of 
duty to MSPB and its mission. I trust that my colleagues do not intend 
to use this bill to coerce Mr. Robbins to stay any longer than he wants 
to.

                              {time}  1745

  I urge my colleagues to join me in applauding Mr. Robbins for his 
dedication to MSPB, the Federal workforce, the President, and our 
country. I also urge my colleagues to join me in supporting the 
Senate's confirmation of President Trump's nominees.
  We owe it to our Federal workers to give MSPB a quorum so the board 
can do the important job that Congress gave it to do.
  In the future, I certainly hope we can work together to provide 
certainty to Federal workers and whistleblowers by making MSPB 
operational once again.
  Mr. Speaker, I have no further speakers, and I yield back the balance 
of my time.
  Mr. CONNOLLY. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.
  Briefly, in responding to my friend: I agree with him. I think we 
need a full board. Our problem is the Senate. They didn't get around to 
acting in a timely fashion, and so we are faced with this.
  I think it is also important to note that, although a quorum is 
necessary for most work of MSPB, it isn't necessary for all of it.
  So Mr. Robbins, in a caretaker, interim position, can still do some 
of the work of the board, including issuing stays, reviewing some of 
the work, and helping to avoid adding to the backlog.
  He can't substitute himself fully, obviously, for a quorum in the 
board. My colleague is quite right about that.
  What we are trying to do here is not to compel him or coerce him to 
stay against his wishes; it is to try to buy some time and have the 
board at least do some of its basic functions so that we don't come to 
a complete standstill. That would not be necessary, frankly, had the 
Senate acted.
  I think my friend is right in suggesting that is the ultimate answer, 
and I would join him in calling on the Senate to act as swiftly as 
possible. But I think we have no choice but to act on this bill now.
  With that, Mr. Speaker, I urge passage of the bill, and I yield back 
the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Connolly) that the House suspend the rules 
and pass the bill, H.R. 1235, as amended.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the 
rules were suspended and the bill, as amended, was passed.
  The title of the bill was amended so as to read: ``To provide that 
the term of office of certain members of the Merit Systems Protection 
Board shall be extended by a period of 1 year, and for other 
purposes.''.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

                          ____________________