Since regaining a quorum the board has cleared out some 1,100 or 3,800 backlogged cases, by making a priority of those that set precedent or resolving others and dismissing settled cases. Image: Andrey_Popov/Shutterstock.com
By: FEDweek StaffBoth of the administrative boards on federal workplace disputes are now down to two members although that still constitutes a quorum in both cases and each can continue issuing decisions.
Former member Tristan Leavitt left the MSPB board following the expiration of his term, leaving the board with acting chair Cathy Harris, a former federal employment lawyer and union official, and Raymond Limon, who previously had been the Interior Department’s chief human capital officer.
All three were confirmed last year after the board had lacked a quorum since early 2017, with no members through most of that time. Leavitt was the MSPB’s general counsel and in effect ran the agency during that period, before being nominated and confirmed for a seat on the board.
During the five years in which the board was unable to issue decisions, a backlog of some 3,800 cases built up. In the year since then, the board has cleared out some 1,100 of those cases, by making a priority of those that set precedent or resolving others and dismissing cases where settlement has been reached, according to the MSPB. With the board now consisting of two Democrats, a Republican will have to be nominated for the open seat.
The FLRA board had dropped to two members earlier this year on the end of the holdover period after the expiration of former chairman Ernest DuBester’s term. As the lone Democrat on the board during the Trump administration, he had dissented from a series of decisions in favor of management during that time. He did not seek renomination and no one has been named for the seat.
The confirmation last spring of Susan Tsui Grundmann—now the acting chair—for a seat on the board to replace a Republican whose term had expired gave the FLRA board a majority for Democrats. That triggered bids by unions to reverse some of those decisions; however, the board now has a partisan split, likely putting those efforts on hold until a third member is seated.
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