{"id":706,"date":"2026-08-03T22:41:49","date_gmt":"2026-08-03T22:41:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/marketrelocationreport.com\/?p=706"},"modified":"2026-08-03T22:41:49","modified_gmt":"2026-08-03T22:41:49","slug":"opm-finalizes-rules-expanding-its-power-over-rifs-employee-appeals-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/marketrelocationreport.com\/?p=706","title":{"rendered":"OPM finalizes rules expanding its power over RIFs, employee appeals"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

The Office of Personnel Management moved Friday to finalize regulations that collectively seize jurisdiction over thousands of employee appeals, as the federal government\u2019s dedicated HR agency moves to centralize power over the federal workforce.<\/p>\n

Read more LGBTQ+ feds sue to restore FEHB coverage of gender affirming care<\/a><\/p>\n

Across three final rules slated for publication in the Federal Register <\/em>Monday, OPM implemented plans to take over adjudication of federal workers\u2019 appeals of decisions and , as well as cases involving employees still serving in a . A fourth rule more broadly, primarily by emphasizing recent performance reviews over tenure.<\/p>\n

Currently, a federal employee seeking to appeal an adverse personnel action stemming from a RIF, suitability decision or action that happened while they in their first probationary year of service does so by petitioning the Merit Systems Protection Board. Under the quasi-judicial agency\u2019s jurisdiction, the employee\u2019s case is heard by an administrative judge, with final review by the MSPB\u2019s three-member board. Following a final decision by the agency, the employee\u2014or their employing agency\u2014can appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.<\/p>\n

But under the new process, appeals would primarily be handled by OPM\u2019s Office of Merit System Accountability and Compliance and ultimately reviewable by the OPM director. Employees would no longer be able to appeal final agency decisions in federal courts.<\/p>\n

In a blog post Friday, OPM Director Scott Kupor said the MSPB is\u00a0too slow to handle its current workload.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe current MSPB backlog stretches to many months and, in some cases, years,\u201d Kupor wrote. \u201cThat is not good for employees who deserve timely resolution of their appeals and it is not good for agencies, which are left in management limbo while cases wind through a slow and costly adjudicatory process. Our proposed internal appeal processes are designed to be faster, more efficient, and, critically, structurally independent, with separate staff handling determinations and appeals.\u201d<\/p>\n

MSPB\u2019s backlog in both Trump\u2019s first and second terms stemmed from a lack of a quorum of presidential appointees atop the agency that until last week referred to itself as independent. The 2025 dearth of a quorum began after Trump fired Democratic appointee Cathy Harris in February of that year.<\/p>\n

In the case of the regulation turning RIF appeals over to OPM, the HR agency said fully 99% of the around 1,250 public comments were opposed to the measure. Though OPM declined to publish the breakdown of comments submitted in regard to the other regulations, each produced \u201csome\u201d supporters and \u201cmany\u201d opponents.<\/p>\n

\u2018An existential threat to due process\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n

Raymond Limon, a former MSPB member who retired at the end of his term in February 2025, described OPM\u2019s taking jurisdiction of federal employee appeals as a violation of Congress\u2019 intent in enacting the 1978 Civil Service Reform Act. Prior to that law, federal personnel policy and appeal adjudication both were held within the Civil Service Commission; the CSRA bifurcated those roles into two separate agencies\u2014OPM would handle policy, while MSPB would handle appeals.<\/p>\n

Read more GSA\u2019s digital roadmap looks to enhance agencies\u2019 services, CIO says<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cIt was very clear that an independent adjudicative body was to hear those cases,\u201d Limon said. \u201c\u2019Good fences make good neighbors,\u2019 and that creates due process, organizational discipline and consistency throughout the federal government. What we\u2019re seeing here is an existential threat to due process by going against Congress\u2019 words and intent and moving those due process protections to the personnel office.\u201d<\/p>\n

In its regulations, OPM argued that if these adjudicative functions were truly meant for MSPB to handle, Congress would have done so via statute. Instead, the duties were granted via OPM regulation.<\/p>\n

\u201cBy carving out RIFs conducted under [Title 5 of the U.S. Code] from the MSPB\u2019s jurisdiction, Congress distinguished this type of reorganization activity from the individually targeted personnel actions for which employees have traditionally been accorded formal procedural protections,\u201d OPM wrote. \u201cIn the CSRA, Congress did not direct that the MSPB have jurisdiction over RIF appeals.\u201d<\/p>\n

But Limon said it\u2019s not that simple, and noted Congress elsewhere has directed RIF appeals to the MSPB for review.<\/p>\n

\u201cTwo years [after the Civil Service Reform Act], Congress passed the updated Foreign Service Act, in which it allowed foreign service officers to go to MSPB in cases of a RIF,\u201d he said. \u201cCongress knew that employees could go to the Merit Systems Protections Board for a RIF, and so they gave foreign service officers the option: you can appeal to the Foreign Service Grievance Board or to the MSPB.\u201d<\/p>\n

While the inability for an employee to appeal OPM\u2019s final decision in federal court is the most noteworthy change as part of the move away from the MSPB, Limon said he was also troubled by the reduction of these cases to a \u201cpaper exercise.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cUnder the new process, you won\u2019t have the benefit of an adversarial litigation process in which you have an attorney and can draw and cross-examine witnesses and you have an independent, trained judge to hear your case and hold both parties accountable,\u201d he said. \u201cNone of that happens when you appeal one of these matters to OPM. It\u2019s a paper exercise, and it\u2019s really up to some person inside OPM to decide how much due process you get.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more Survey shows the toll of USAID\u2019s closure on former employees and their families<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Taken together, four regulations set for publication Monday would shift adjudication of several types of adverse action appeals from the Merit Systems Protection Board to the Office of Personnel Management.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":692,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-706","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-workforce"],"yoast_head":"\nOPM finalizes rules expanding its power over RIFs, employee appeals - Market Relocation Report<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/marketrelocationreport.com\/?p=706\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"OPM finalizes rules expanding its power over RIFs, employee appeals - Market Relocation Report\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Taken together, four regulations set for publication Monday would shift adjudication of several types of adverse action appeals from the Merit Systems Protection Board to the Office of Personnel Management.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/marketrelocationreport.com\/?p=706\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Market Relocation Report\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-08-03T22:41:49+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/marketrelocationreport.com\\\/?p=706#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/marketrelocationreport.com\\\/?p=706\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/marketrelocationreport.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/19c060c848a41baec5bd9c5b313f46d9\"},\"headline\":\"OPM finalizes rules expanding its power over RIFs, employee appeals\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-08-03T22:41:49+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/marketrelocationreport.com\\\/?p=706\"},\"wordCount\":911,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/marketrelocationreport.com\\\/?p=706#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/marketrelocationreport.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/c5cadbbeb5cc5a1ccbccddc9bc0168c6.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Workforce\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/marketrelocationreport.com\\\/?p=706#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/marketrelocationreport.com\\\/?p=706\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/marketrelocationreport.com\\\/?p=706\",\"name\":\"OPM finalizes rules expanding its power over RIFs, employee appeals - Market Relocation Report\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/marketrelocationreport.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/marketrelocationreport.com\\\/?p=706#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/marketrelocationreport.com\\\/?p=706#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/marketrelocationreport.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/c5cadbbeb5cc5a1ccbccddc9bc0168c6.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-08-03T22:41:49+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/marketrelocationreport.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/19c060c848a41baec5bd9c5b313f46d9\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/marketrelocationreport.com\\\/?p=706#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/marketrelocationreport.com\\\/?p=706\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/marketrelocationreport.com\\\/?p=706#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/marketrelocationreport.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/c5cadbbeb5cc5a1ccbccddc9bc0168c6.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/marketrelocationreport.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/c5cadbbeb5cc5a1ccbccddc9bc0168c6.jpg\",\"width\":400,\"height\":400},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/marketrelocationreport.com\\\/?p=706#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/marketrelocationreport.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"OPM finalizes rules expanding its power over RIFs, employee appeals\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/marketrelocationreport.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/marketrelocationreport.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Market Relocation Report\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/marketrelocationreport.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/marketrelocationreport.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/19c060c848a41baec5bd9c5b313f46d9\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/marketrelocationreport.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/marketrelocationreport.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"OPM finalizes rules expanding its power over RIFs, employee appeals - Market Relocation Report","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/marketrelocationreport.com\/?p=706","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"OPM finalizes rules expanding its power over RIFs, employee appeals - Market Relocation Report","og_description":"Taken together, four regulations set for publication Monday would shift adjudication of several types of adverse action appeals from the Merit Systems Protection Board to the Office of Personnel Management.","og_url":"https:\/\/marketrelocationreport.com\/?p=706","og_site_name":"Market Relocation Report","article_published_time":"2026-08-03T22:41:49+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/marketrelocationreport.com\/?p=706#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/marketrelocationreport.com\/?p=706"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/marketrelocationreport.com\/#\/schema\/person\/19c060c848a41baec5bd9c5b313f46d9"},"headline":"OPM finalizes rules expanding its power over RIFs, employee appeals","datePublished":"2026-08-03T22:41:49+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/marketrelocationreport.com\/?p=706"},"wordCount":911,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/marketrelocationreport.com\/?p=706#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/marketrelocationreport.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/c5cadbbeb5cc5a1ccbccddc9bc0168c6.jpg","articleSection":["Workforce"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/marketrelocationreport.com\/?p=706#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/marketrelocationreport.com\/?p=706","url":"https:\/\/marketrelocationreport.com\/?p=706","name":"OPM finalizes rules expanding its power over RIFs, employee appeals - Market Relocation Report","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/marketrelocationreport.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/marketrelocationreport.com\/?p=706#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/marketrelocationreport.com\/?p=706#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/marketrelocationreport.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/c5cadbbeb5cc5a1ccbccddc9bc0168c6.jpg","datePublished":"2026-08-03T22:41:49+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/marketrelocationreport.com\/#\/schema\/person\/19c060c848a41baec5bd9c5b313f46d9"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/marketrelocationreport.com\/?p=706#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/marketrelocationreport.com\/?p=706"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/marketrelocationreport.com\/?p=706#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/marketrelocationreport.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/c5cadbbeb5cc5a1ccbccddc9bc0168c6.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/marketrelocationreport.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/c5cadbbeb5cc5a1ccbccddc9bc0168c6.jpg","width":400,"height":400},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/marketrelocationreport.com\/?p=706#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/marketrelocationreport.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"OPM finalizes rules expanding its power over RIFs, employee appeals"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/marketrelocationreport.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/marketrelocationreport.com\/","name":"Market Relocation Report","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/marketrelocationreport.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/marketrelocationreport.com\/#\/schema\/person\/19c060c848a41baec5bd9c5b313f46d9","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/marketrelocationreport.com"],"url":"https:\/\/marketrelocationreport.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/marketrelocationreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/706","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/marketrelocationreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/marketrelocationreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marketrelocationreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marketrelocationreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=706"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/marketrelocationreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/706\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marketrelocationreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/692"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/marketrelocationreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=706"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marketrelocationreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=706"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marketrelocationreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=706"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}