Labor & Employment Law Daily Wrap Up, WHITE HOUSE NEWS—Trump administration dismisses Chair of MSPB, (Feb 12, 2025)
Organizations Mentioned:Office of Special Counsel
By Brandi O. Brown, J.D.
Cathy Harris had several more years in her seven-year term to serve.
As Trump’s assault on federal employment and leadership continues, one of his recent targets is the Chair of the Merit Systems Protection Board, Cathy Harris. According to reports, the White House informed Ms. Harris, a Democrat, on Monday evening that her position on the three-member board was terminated. Trump had previously named a Republican, Henry Kerner, as acting chair of the board.
Ms. Harris began her service on the Board in June 2022, was designated Vice Chairman a few days later, and became Acting Chairman. In March 2024, the Senate confirmed her as Chairman.
The Government Accountability Project, a leading international whistleblower protection organization, issued a statement condemning the “unlawful” termination, noting that it followed swiftly on the heels of the termination of the head of the Office of Special Counsel, Hampton Dellinger. (Dellinger filed suit and was ordered to be reinstated by a federal court on Monday.)
Indeed, when the administration announced Harris’s replacement as chair, Dellinger issued a statement about Harris’s work, applauding and thanking her for her service to the MSPB. He explained, “Under her leadership, the MSPB issued significant regulations and precedential decisions, updated its procedures for administrative judges, and most importantly, resolved its inherited inventory of cases that had built up over the five-plus years the Board lacked a quorum. MSPB is in an extremely strong position now because of Cathy's dedication and talents, and we look forward to her continued service as a member of the Board.”
However, unless there is court intervention, as has been seen with Dellinger, that service will not continue.
“The merit system exists to ensure government service is about taxpayers—not politics[,]” said Tom Devine, the Government Accountability Project’s legal director. “Undermining its ability to function through unjust firings doesn’t prevent waste and fraud: it is waste, and it is fraud.”
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