[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 8550 Introduced in House (IH)]
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117th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 8550
To provide that all Federal employees in the executive branch of
Government are at-will employees, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
July 28, 2022
Mr. Roy (for himself, Mrs. Miller of Illinois, Mr. Nehls, Mr. Good of
Virginia, and Mrs. Boebert) introduced the following bill; which was
referred to the Committee on Oversight and Reform
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To provide that all Federal employees in the executive branch of
Government are at-will employees, and for other purposes.
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 ``Public Service Reform Act''.
SEC. 2. AT-WILL EMPLOYMENT FOR FEDERAL EXECUTIVE BRANCH EMPLOYEES.
(a) 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 Government shall
be considered at-will, and--
(A) may be subject to any adverse personnel action
(up to and including removal) for good cause, bad
cause, or no cause at all; and
(B) may not challenge or otherwise appeal such an
action except as provided in subsection (b).
(2) Limitation.--
(A) In general.--An employee may not be subject to
any adverse personnel action under this Act for any
reason prohibited section 2302(b) of title 5, United
States Code.
(B) Procedures.--The President shall establish
procedures to enforce compliance with paragraph (1),
including providing for disciplinary measures against
any employee who violates such paragraph. Nothing in
this subparagraph shall be construed to grant an
employee the right to review or appeal an adverse
personnel action outside such procedures.
(b) Removal of Career Employees.--With respect to the removal of a
career employee, the following procedures shall apply:
(1) Before an agency removes the employee, the agency
official authorized to propose such action (in this subsection
referred to as the ``proposing official'') shall provide the
employee with written notification of the proposed removal and
the reasons therefore. The employee shall have 14 days to
provide a written response, except that the agency head or
designee shall have sole and exclusive discretion to alter the
response period on a case-by-case basis.
(2) Under procedures prescribed by the agency head, in the
head's sole and exclusive discretion, an agency official other
than the proposing official (in this subsection referred to as
the ``deciding official'') shall decide whether to remove or
retain such career employee. The deciding official shall review
the proposed removal and employee response under paragraph (1),
and may, in their sole and exclusive discretion, conduct a
hearing on the matter. After such review or hearing (as the
case may be), the deciding official shall determine whether the
employee shall be removed.
(3) The deciding official's determination under paragraph
(2) shall be the agency's final decision unless, within the 7-
day period following such determination, the agency head or
designee reverses the decision, in which case the agency head's
or designee's decision shall be the final agency decision.
(4) An agency's final decision under paragraph (3) shall be
final and not subject to any appeal or challenge, unless the
President overrules the agency's final decision.
(c) 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.
(d) Abolishment of MSPB.--On the date of enactment of this Act, the
Merit Systems Protection Board is hereby abolished. The Chairman of the
Board may take such actions as are necessary to dispose of the assets,
obligations, and liabilities of the Board.
(e) 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) Subsections (b)(1), (b)(2)(B) through (D),
(b)(3), (b)(4), (c), (g), and (i) of section 1214.
(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), by redesignating
subparagraphs (B) and (C) as subparagraphs (C) and (D),
respectively, and 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;''.
(f) Whistleblower Protections.--
(1) In general.--Within the 14-day period described in
subsection (b)(1), the Office of Special Counsel may make a
recommendation to the agency head or deciding official on
whether an adverse personnel action taken against an individual
was in retaliation for making a whistleblowing disclosure.
(2) Appeal.--An individual subject to an adverse personnel
action who claims such action was taken in retaliation
described in section 2302(b)(8) or (b)(9) of title 5, United
States Code, may appeal such action to the United States court
of appeals in the circuit in which the duty station of the
individual is located.
(3) Decision.--
(A) If such court is finds that the individual's
appeal under paragraph (2) is in bad faith or
frivolous, the individual's annuity under chapter 83 or
84 of such title shall be reduced by 25 percent.
(B) If the individual prevails under an appeal
under paragraph (2), 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 occurred;
and
(ii) be reimbursed for attorney's fees,
back pay, and related benefits, medical costs
incurred, travel expenses, any other reasonable
and foreseeable consequential damages, and
compensatory damages (including interest,
reasonable expert witness fees, and costs).
(g) EEOC Appeals.--Notwithstanding any other provision of law,
including section 717 of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, an individual
who is an employee or applicant to be 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 such action from the Equal
Employment Opportunity Commission as if such individual was an employee
of an employer (as that term is defined in section 701 of such Act).
(h) Definitions.--In this Act--
(1) the term ``adverse personnel action'' means a removal,
a suspension for more than 14 days, a reduction in grade or a
reduction in pay, and a furlough of 30 days or less;
(2) the term ``career employee'' means any employee who is
not a political employee;
(3) the term ``employee'' has the meaning given that term
in section 2105 of title 5, United States Code, and includes--
(A) an officer or employee of the United States
Postal Service or the Postal Regulatory Commission; and
(B) notwithstanding subsection (b) of section 7425
of title 38, United States Code, any employee described
under subsection (a) of such section; and
(4) the term ``political employee'' means any employee who
is--
(A) appointed by the President;
(B) a noncareer appointee (as that term is defined
in section 3132(a)(7) of title 5, United States Code)
in the Senior Executive Service;
(C) occupying a position under schedule C of
subpart C of part 213 of title 5, Code of Federal
Regulations; or
(D) in any other civil service (as that term is
defined in section 2101 of title 5, United States Code)
position classified as a political position after the
date of enactment of this Act under regulations as the
Director of the Office of Personnel Management may
prescribe.
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