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UC Law Constitutional Quarterly

Abstract

In a federal civil service of millions, a means of adjudicating internal employment disputes objectively and efficiently is integral to the continued confidence of the federal workforce.1 This is the role occupied by the U.S. Merit Systems Protection Board.2 On February 10, 2025, President Trump fired MSPB Chairman Cathy Harris without citing any reason, in direct violation of the good cause standard needed to remove an MSPB Board member. 3 President Trump’s unjustified firing of Chairman Harris reopens the ongoing assault on removal doctrine, but this note argues that the structure of the MSPB is constitutional under current removal doctrine. The exceptions to Seila Law’s general rule of unfettered presidential removal power allow for statutory removal restrictions on both MSPB Board Members and MSPB AJs. PCAOB’s presumption against dual layers of removal protection should not be read to automatically override this conclusion. If the Court wishes to dismantle the federal civil service, it must confront directly the difficult issues such an action would raise. It should not do so through the back door by dismantling the lynchpin of the civil service. This note examines the role of the MSPB, the current threats against it, the current state of removal protections, why the threats to the MSPB are also threats to our system of government and the field of removal protections, and why the MSPB fits within the narrow exceptions laid out in Seila Law.

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