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The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) is proposing even more regulations to limit federal employee rights. Please consider submitting comments opposing these latest anti-employee, anti-union efforts.
OPM has proposed moving two categories of employee appeals from MSPB to OPM itself. Those two categories are (1) RIF appeals; and (2) suitability action appeals. These actions are wrong because such appeals belong before a neutral, adjudicatory body like the MSPB, not a federal agency dedicated to carrying out the President’s agenda like OPM. The proposed regulations also deny employees the right to a hearing or to relevant information from the agency to help with their appeal. And both proposed rules would prohibit unions from using any official time to help employees prepare for their appeals.
NTEU will be submitting comments opposing both new proposed rules. I encourage you and our fellow workers to likewise submit comments.
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Comments on the proposed rule concerning suitability action appeals are due on March 9, 2026. OPM’s full proposal can be found here.
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Comments on the proposed rule concerning RIF appeals are due on March 12, 2026. OPM’s full proposal can be found here.
To file comments,
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The portal to submit comments for each proposed rule can be found here:
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The proposed rule on suitability action appeals is at this link, or search regulations.gov for “OPM-2025-0173-0001”
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The proposed rule on RIF appeals is at this link, or search regulations.gov for “OPM-2025-0239-0001”
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Click on “Comment.”
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You can simply type in your comment or attach a document.
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You may submit comments anonymously.
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You may submit any comments you want and you should put them in your own words, but some suggestions are:
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I oppose the administration’s effort to limit the appeal rights of federal employees.
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Employee appeals belong before a neutral, adjudicatory body like the Merit Systems Protection Board, not an executive branch agency like OPM.
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Employees should not lose the right to a hearing or discovery when filing appeals; without such rights, OPM’s proposed process will be one-sided in favor of the agency and unfair.
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Unions are entitled to official time to help employees prepare for any appeals. Helping employees fight wrongful agency actions is a critical function of what unions provide.