Mark Robbins was the last member of the Merit Systems Protection Board until his departure in February 2018. The MSPB has been unable to issue decisions on appeals since early 2017 and is sitting on a backlog of 3,000 cases. Image: Juliet Linderman/AP/Shutterstock
By: FEDweek StaffPresident Biden has made a nomination for the third of the three open seats on the MSPB governing board, resulting the full slate of nominees that Senate Republicans have said they wanted to receive before bringing any nominations to a confirmation vote.
Biden nominated Tristan Leavitt, currently the agency’s general counsel and acting chief administrative officer who previously was a senior official at the Office of Special Counsel and acting head of that agency for more than a year. He previously worked on Capitol Hill on federal workplace policy issues, including for the then-head of the Oversight and Reform Committee, Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah.
The MSPB board has been without a quorum since early 2017 and unable to issue decisions on appeals of hearing officer rulings, which have continued in that time with a backlog of more than 3,000 cases now pending. The board has had no members since early 2019.
Biden previously made nominations for the other two seats but those nominees have not received even a hearing. Also still awaiting hearings are Biden nominees for two of the three seats on the FLRA governing board, the FLRA general counsel and for four of the five positions on the TSP governing board.
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