Washington, DC — As occurred during Trump’s first term, the federal civil service court has lost its quorum for deciding appeals, sparking a burgeoning backlog of undecided whistleblower appeals and other cases, according to Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER). This legal paralysis descends as the court may face further inundation from thousands of appeals by employees fighting termination in Trump-ordered reductions-in-force (RIFs).

The Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB) is a three-member body, appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate. It decides appeals from rulings by a cadre of administrative judges hearing cases to enforce whistleblower protections and other civil service rules, including the Hatch Act, which prohibits electioneering by civil servants.

During Trump’s first term, he declined to fill any MSPB vacancies, and that body quickly lost its quorum and eventually all its members. As a result, from 2017 through 2022, MSPB could render no decisions. During this period, the backlog of unanswered appeals rapidly grew to reach nearly 3,800 cases. It took MSPB with a full complement of Biden appointees more than three years to erase this backlog.

This year, MSPB Member Tristan Limon’s term ended in February. Trump then ordered the removal without cause of Chair Cathy Harris midway through her term. The judicial stay on that removal ended on April 9^th. That left only one remaining member, again extinguishing MSPB’s quorum for deciding appeals.

Since April 9^th, the backlog has quickly returned. As of May 24^th, MSPB reported having received 11,166 appeals — twice its typical workload in an entire fiscal year. In the succeeding five weeks, that appeal backlog may have grown by as many as another 1,000 cases. President Trump has quietly nominated James Woodruff to fill one of two MSPB vacancies, but even if he is quickly confirmed, the Board will face a daunting backlog.

“Once again, Donald Trump has acted to disrupt our civil service system,” stated PEER General Counsel Joanna Citron Day, an attorney formerly with the Departments of Justice and Interior, as well as EPA. “The President took an oath to ‘faithfully execute’ our laws, not to assiduously obstruct them.”

At the same time, the President’s proposed FY2026 budget for MSPB contains further funding and staff reductions, leading MSPB to conclude that without additional support —

“MSPB may be unable to fully perform our statutory mission, imperiling our ability to help ensure a merit-based, accountable, and high-performing federal civil service.”

Trump has also pushed for large-scale RIFs in several agencies. The rules governing RIFs to prevent retaliation and safeguard seniority, veteran preferences, and other considerations are also enforced by MSPB. If the judicial restraining orders freezing those RIF plans are lifted, MSPB could be further swamped by thousands of additional appeals which cannot be decided.

“MSPB may be heading for the biggest legal trainwreck in history,” added PEER Senior Counsel Peter Jenkins, noting that if the backlog grows unchecked it will take years and perhaps a decade to unsnarl appeals from widespread RIFs. “Long delays in MSPB decisions due to big backlogs threaten to reduce most civil service laws, such as whistleblower protections, into dead letters.”

###

See explosion of MSPB appeals amid budget cuts

Read MSPB’s explanation for handling lack of quorum

Track how MSPB erased its 3700+ appeal backlog

Look at the surge in whistleblowing

Examine civil service rules governing RIFs