President Donald Trump has taken an axe to the federal workforce, exacting revenge on perceived political enemies, shredding agencies and letting Department of Government Efficiency workers take the reins of the federal bureaucracy.
But the president has also gone after government workers in a much subtler way: functionally shutting down one of the only venues they have to challenge their terminations.
By all accounts, the Merit Systems Protection Board is one of the most obscure corners of the government. A few dozen “lawyer examiners” serve as administrative judges who field complaints from aggrieved federal employees. Whatever happens after a trial can be appealed to a three-person, bipartisan board of political appointees who have a final say.