{"id":459486,"date":"2026-02-10T04:43:08","date_gmt":"2026-02-10T04:43:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/459486\/"},"modified":"2026-02-10T04:43:08","modified_gmt":"2026-02-10T04:43:08","slug":"rifs-would-be-appealed-to-opm-rather-than-mspb-under-proposed-rule","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/459486\/","title":{"rendered":"RIFs Would be Appealed to OPM Rather than MSPB Under Proposed Rule"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\"\"
\n\t\t\t\t\tPeople rally outside of the U.S. Department of State headquarters in Washington, D.C. on July 11, 2025 in support of employees who were laid off by the agency. Roughly 1,300 State Department staff were laid off as part of a reorganization plan at the agency which aligns with President Donald Trump’s agenda to downsize the federal government.\t\t\t\t\t Image: Bryan Dozier\/NurPhoto\/Shutterstock
\n\t\t\t\tBy: FEDweek Staff<\/a><\/p>\n

OPM has proposed to require that challenges to reductions in force be filed there, and not at the MSPB, in its latest move to centralize control over more federal personnel decisions there.<\/p>\n

The proposal in the February 10 Federal Register would apply to employees who have been furloughed more than 30 days, separated, or demoted by a RIF action, saying the current MSPB appeals process\u2014which involves courtroom-type procedures before a hearing officer, and then potential appeals to the governing board and from there into federal court\u2014is \u201cantiquated and no longer reflect the needs of agencies operating in the twenty-first century.\u201d<\/p>\n

The notice argues that \u201cno statutory right to an administrative or judicial review pertaining to RIF actions exists\u201d in the Civil Service Reform Act apart from certain veterans\u2019 preference protections. The MSPB\u2019s \u201cauthority to hear RIF appeals is provided for in OPM regulation, not statute,\u201d and can be revoked by overriding regulations\u2014which the proposed regs would do\u2014it says, while \u201cthe CSRA prescribes in precise detail the types of actions regarding which there is eventual judicial review\u2014and it does not provide for such review of RIFs.\u201d<\/p>\n

The rules propose to replace MSPB appeals with a process similar to what OPM\u2019s Merit System Accountability and Compliance office uses in deciding appeals of job classification and Fair Labor Standards Act overtime claims. That process would supersede any internal agency processes or negotiated processes, further ending any rights to bring challenges through negotiated grievance procedures.<\/p>\n

The employee would have \u201cthe burden of proving that the RIF action subject to appeal was conducted inconsistent with either statute or OPM regulations such that the employee would not have suffered the same or another RIF action if properly conducted.\u201d Decisions would be based on the written record, although OPM would have authority to \u201cinvestigate or audit the RIF action to ascertain facts\u201d or to conduct a hearing at its discretion.<\/p>\n

OPM could reconsider decisions at its discretion and there would be no right to appeal elsewhere, such as into federal court. Employees who prevail would have the same rights, including to reinstatement and back pay, that they currently have, it said.<\/p>\n

That would \u201creturn the focus of RIF appeals to the administrative record, with discretion provided to the presiding official to investigate or audit the RIF action. OPM believes this is a more efficient and streamlined process than is provided for under the current regulations,\u201d it says.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile employees may lack some procedural mechanisms if appeals are transferred to MASC as contemplated by this rule, OPM believes streamlining the process will not have a consequential impact upon the substantive outcomes of the appeals, while improving the efficiency and consistency of the process,\u201d it says.<\/p>\n

Employees could continue to \u201cpursue collateral claims under statutes administered by other entities,\u201d such as bringing a claim of discrimination to the EEOC or a claim of political retaliation to the Office of Special Counsel, it adds.<\/p>\n

The proposal follows others now pending for OPM to take over from the MSPB authority to hear appeals of firings of probationary employees and firings based on \u201csuitability\u201d grounds (see related story).<\/p>\n

\u201cEliminating independent review of federal RIF actions would not only make it harder for employees to challenge their proposed terminations, but would essentially give the administration free rein to terminate huge swaths of the federal workforce without meaningful independent oversight,\u201d the AFGE union said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is all part of a deliberate attempt to dismantle the nonpartisan civil service. On their own, and taken together, these actions unlawfully concentrate removal authority in OPM and directly undermine the statutory framework Congress established to ensure an independent, professional, and nonpartisan civil service,\u201d it said.<\/p>\n

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See also,<\/p>\n

Why Standard Social Security Optimization Falls Short for Federal Employees<\/a><\/p>\n

The Retirement Math Gap: Why Your Current Estimates are Wrong<\/a><\/p>\n

How Withdrawal Order Affects Taxes for Federal Retirees<\/a><\/p>\n

What Retirement Date Maximizes My Federal Benefits?<\/a><\/p>\n

Federal Retirement Income Calculator<\/a><\/p>\n

Federal Manager\u2019s Handbook, 7th Ed.<\/a><\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"People rally outside of the U.S. Department of State headquarters in Washington, D.C. on July 11, 2025 in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":459487,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[28,147,530],"class_list":["post-459486","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-personal-finance","tag-business","tag-personal-finance","tag-personalfinance"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/459486","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=459486"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/459486\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/459487"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=459486"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=459486"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=459486"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}