Federal Employee Accountability & Adverse Action Procedures

Current understanding

OPM and MSPB have proposed rules to streamline federal performance-based and adverse action procedures, refocus penalty review on a totality-of-circumstances test rather than rigid Douglas-factor application, and restrict settlement agreements that remove or expunge documentation of official misconduct from personnel records. For workers, this could reduce procedural protections and make disciplinary records harder to erase through negotiated exits; for agencies, it aims to speed removals and preserve misconduct history across the federal workforce. Status: proposed rule.

Evidence log

• 2026-08-26 — Critical Position Pay Authority: cross-connection with critical-position-pay-authority: The rule specifies that cutting or terminating critical position pay is not an appealable adverse action, carving out an exception to the standard federal adverse-action appeal framework. (novelty: 2)
• 2026-08-28 — Federal Sector Equal Employment Opportunity: cross-connection with federal-sector-eeo-complaint-processing: Both alter procedural rights and remedies available to federal employees challenging adverse agency actions. (novelty: 3)
• 2026-09-03 — Determining the Appropriate Penalty for Federal Employees Charged With Misconduct: MSPB final rule ‘Determining the Appropriate Penalty for Federal Employees Charged With Misconduct’ abandons the 40-year mandatory 12-Douglas-factor test in penalty appeals in favor of case-by-case review of whether the agency’s penalty falls within tolerable limits of reasonableness, aligning MSPB adjudication with the totality-of-circumstances direction reflected in the OPM/MSPB proposed rules tracked here. (novelty: 3)
• 2026-04-30 — No Taxpayer-Funded Pensions for Sex Criminals Act: Cross-reference: S.4447 (No Taxpayer-Funded Pensions for Sex Criminals Act, introduced) would bar taxpayer-funded pensions for individuals convicted of sex crimes, adding a pension-forfeiture accountability lever parallel to OPM/MSPB adverse-action reforms tracked here. (novelty: 2)
• 2026-03-18 — Accountable Leadership for Veterans Act of 2025: Cross-reference: The Accountable Leadership for Veterans Act of 2025 (HR6755, introduced) would strengthen accountability standards for leadership overseeing veterans’ programs, adding a VA-leadership-specific accountability strand that runs parallel to broader OPM/MSPB adverse-action reforms tracked here (mechanism not disclosed). (novelty: 2)
• 2026-07-23 — Exempting Certain Career Federal Employees From Ethics Reporting Requirements: OGE final rule amends ethics regulations so employees in positions transferred to Schedule Policy/Career retain their prior public financial disclosure filing status — preserving pre-existing exemptions rather than triggering new disclosure obligations — a narrow administrative-continuity measure tied to the broader Schedule Policy/Career reclassification wave reshaping federal workforce accountability. (novelty: 2)
• 2023-03-01 — Peace Corps Reauthorization Act of 2023: Cross-reference: The Peace Corps Reauthorization Act of 2023 (introduced) would authorize suspension without pay for Peace Corps employee misconduct and strengthen anti-retaliation protections, adding an agency-specific adverse-action authority that runs parallel to broader OPM/MSPB accountability reforms tracked here. (novelty: 2)
• 2026-08-03 — Suitability Action Appeals: cross-connection with federal-personnel-suitability-vetting: Shift of suitability appeals from MSPB to OPM affects the broader MSPB adjudicative role that also governs adverse-action appeals for federal employees. (novelty: 3)
• 2026-08-03 — Streamlining Probationary and Trial Period Appeals: Cross-reference: OPM final rule replaces inoperative MSPB appeal rights for probationary/trial-period terminations with a new limited OPM-adjudicated appeals process, continuing the OPM rulemaking wave shifting adverse-action appeal forums away from MSPB. (novelty: 3)
• 2026-08-03 — Reduction in Force Appeals: Cross-reference: OPM final RIF-appeals rule transfers adjudication of RIF-related furloughs (>30 days), separations, and demotions from MSPB to OPM under a uniform record-based process, extending the OPM rulemaking wave reshaping federal adverse-action and appeal pathways. (novelty: 3)
• 2026-07-29 — No Bonuses for Bad Service Act: Cross-reference: The No Bonuses for Bad Service Act (S5163, introduced) would restrict performance bonuses for federal employees tied to inadequate public service, adding a compensation-based accountability lever that runs parallel to OPM/MSPB adverse-action streamlining tracked here. (novelty: 2)
• 2026-04-17 — No Pensions for Congressional Predators Act: Cross-reference: The No Pensions for Congressional Predators Act (S4343, introduced) would deny pension benefits to members of Congress convicted of predatory offenses, extending federal accountability tools into legislative-branch retirement benefits — parallel to broader OPM/MSPB executive-branch adverse-action reforms tracked here. (novelty: 2)
• 2026-07-14 — FEMA Caseworker Accountability Act: Cross-reference: The FEMA Caseworker Accountability Act (HR9683, introduced) was referred to the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, adding a narrow FEMA-caseworker-specific accountability strand that runs parallel to broader OPM/MSPB adverse-action reforms tracked here (title-only detail; mechanism not disclosed). (novelty: 2)
• 2025-02-04 — Stop GREED Act of 2025: Tangential cross-reference: The Stop GREED Act of 2025 (introduced) would restrict VA critical skill incentive pay for SES and comparable central-office executives, a narrow agency-specific compensation constraint running parallel to broader OPM/MSPB efforts to tighten senior federal executive accountability. (novelty: 2)
• 2026-07-23 — A bill to amend title 18, United States Code, to provide that officers and employees of the executive branch are required to recuse themselves in matters affecting the financial interests of their previous employers, and for other purposes.: Cross-reference: S5103 (introduced) would amend title 18 to require executive-branch officers and employees to recuse themselves from matters affecting the financial interests of their previous employers, layering a prior-employer conflict-of-interest recusal duty onto existing federal ethics and accountability frameworks. (novelty: 2)
• 2026-07-23 — A bill to prohibit chief executive officers convicted of crimes relating to corruption from serving in the executive branch, and for other purposes.: Cross-reference: S5107 (introduced) would bar chief executive officers convicted of corruption-related crimes from serving in the executive branch, adding a narrow criminal-conviction eligibility bar that runs parallel to broader OPM/MSPB accountability and suitability frameworks. (novelty: 2)
• 2025-05-29 — VA Employee Fairness Act of 2025: HR3261 (VA Employee Fairness Act of 2025, introduced) was referred to the House Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, potentially adjusting VA-specific employee labor rights alongside the broader OPM/MSPB adverse-action reforms tracked here. (novelty: 2)
• 2026-07-16 — To amend title 5, United States Code, to abolish the Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency, and for other purposes.: Cross-reference: HR9725 (introduced) would abolish CIGIE, removing a central coordinating body for IG-driven investigations that often feed evidence into federal employee adverse-action and misconduct proceedings. (novelty: 3)
• 2026-06-29 — Veterans Health Administration Personnel Transparency and Accountability Act: HR9533 (Veterans Health Administration Personnel Transparency and Accountability Act, introduced) was referred to the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, adding a VHA-specific personnel transparency/accountability strand parallel to broader OPM/MSPB adverse-action reforms tracked here. (novelty: 2)
• 2026-06-17 — American Federation of Government Employees, Afl-Cio v. Trump: 2026-06-17 — Ninth Circuit issued an opinion in American Federation of Government Employees, AFL-CIO v. Trump; docket noted without extracted holding, potentially bearing on federal-employee labor rights and adverse-action authority. (novelty: 2)
• 2026-06-19 — National Treasury Employees Union v. Russell T. Vought: 2026-06-19 — D.C. Circuit issued an opinion in National Treasury Employees Union v. Vought; caption noted with holding not yet extracted, potentially bearing on federal workforce adverse-action authority. (novelty: 2)
• 2026-05-19 — End Government Pensions for Sexual Abusers Act of 2026: Cross-reference: The End Government Pensions for Sexual Abusers Act of 2026 (HR8898, introduced) would add pension forfeiture upon sexual abuse conviction as a downstream financial consequence layered on top of adverse-action removals, extending the federal accountability toolkit beyond employment separation. (novelty: 2) (novelty: 2)
• 2025-09-16 — Saving the Civil Service Act: Cross-reference: The Saving the Civil Service Act (HR492, introduced) would push in the opposite direction from OPM/MSPB streamlining by barring reclassification of competitive/excepted service positions into new schedules (e.g., Schedule F) without statutory conditions and employee consent, preserving merit-system procedural protections against adverse action. (novelty: 2)
• 2025-03-11 — Restore VA Accountability Act of 2025: Cross-reference: The Restore VA Accountability Act of 2025 (introduced) would move VA supervisor/manager removals in the opposite direction from OPM/MSPB streamlining efforts by imposing a ‘substantial evidence’ standard, adding whistleblower protections, and applying retroactively to June 2017. (novelty: 2)
• 2026-06-18 — No Robot Bosses Act: Tangential cross-reference: The No Robot Bosses Act (S4833, introduced June 2026) would regulate automated systems used in employment decisions, potentially constraining how agencies could deploy algorithmic tools in performance-based or adverse actions against federal employees. (novelty: 3)
• 2025-12-17 — Whistleblower Protection Act of 2025: Cross-reference: HR4646 (Whistleblower Protection Act of 2025) was ordered reported out of House committee by a unanimous 51-0 vote on Dec 17, 2025, adding a parallel protective track that could constrain how adverse actions are used against employees who make protected disclosures. (novelty: 2)
• 2025-08-14 — PRO Veterans Act of 2025: Tangential cross-reference: The PRO Veterans Act of 2025 (enacted) restricts critical skill incentive pay for senior VA central office employees, a narrower agency-specific compensation constraint that runs parallel to broader OPM/MSPB efforts to tighten federal executive accountability. (novelty: 2)
• 2025-01-07 — REMOTE Act: Cross-reference: The REMOTE Act (introduced) would require agencies to track and report telework performance deficiencies to the CHCO Council, potentially feeding new evidence streams into performance-based adverse action procedures. (novelty: 2)
• 2026-07-07 — Performance Appraisal for General Schedule, Prevailing Rate, and Certain Other Employees: OPM final rule on performance appraisal complements adverse-action streamlining by removing grievance rights over ratings of record and eliminating mandatory Level 1 rating review, tightening the link between low performance ratings and downstream discipline. (novelty: 2)
• 2025-05-15 — AI Whistleblower Protection Act: Tangential cross-reference: HR3460 (AI Whistleblower Protection Act) would extend whistleblower anti-retaliation protections to AI-related disclosures, a separate protective track that could interact with adverse action procedures when discipline follows such reports. (novelty: 2)
• 2026-05-28 — Elimination of Time-in-Grade: Cross-reference: OPM’s proposed elimination of the 52-week Time-in-Grade requirement is part of the same broader OPM rulemaking wave reshaping federal HR rules on discipline, separations, and now promotions. (novelty: 2)
• 2026-07-02 — Promoting Employee Accountability: cross-connection with federal-administrative-leave: Both are OPM-led proposed rules reshaping federal workforce management — one covers leave and separations, the other covers discipline and adverse actions. (novelty: 3)

Open questions

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