I 
117TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 8550 
To provide that all Federal employees in the executive branch of Government 
are at-will employees, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JULY 28, 2022 
Mr. ROY (for himself, Mrs. MILLER of Illinois, Mr. NEHLS, Mr. GOOD of Vir-
ginia, and Mrs. BOEBERT) introduced the following bill; which was re-
ferred to the Committee on Oversight and Reform 
A BILL 
To provide that all Federal employees in the executive branch 
of Government are at-will employees, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Public Service Reform 
Act’’. 
SEC. 2. AT-WILL EMPLOYMENT FOR FEDERAL EXECUTIVE 
BRANCH EMPLOYEES. 
(a) AT-WILL EMPLOYMENT.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other 
provision of law, rule, or regulation, and except as 
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provided in paragraph (2), any employee in the exec-
utive branch of Government shall be considered at- 
will, and— 
(A) may be subject to any adverse per-
sonnel action (up to and including removal) for 
good cause, bad cause, or no cause at all; and 
(B) may not challenge or otherwise appeal 
such an action except as provided in subsection 
(b). 
(2) LIMITATION.— 
(A) IN GENERAL.—An employee may not 
be subject to any adverse personnel action 
under this Act for any reason prohibited section 
2302(b) of title 5, United States Code. 
(B) PROCEDURES.—The President shall 
establish procedures to enforce compliance with 
paragraph (1), including providing for discipli-
nary measures against any employee who vio-
lates such paragraph. Nothing in this subpara-
graph shall be construed to grant an employee 
the right to review or appeal an adverse per-
sonnel action outside such procedures. 
(b) REMOVAL OF CAREER EMPLOYEES.—With re-
spect to the removal of a career employee, the following 
procedures shall apply: 
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(1) Before an agency removes the employee, the 
agency official authorized to propose such action (in 
this subsection referred to as the ‘‘proposing offi-
cial’’) shall provide the employee with written notifi-
cation of the proposed removal and the reasons 
therefore. The employee shall have 14 days to pro-
vide a written response, except that the agency head 
or designee shall have sole and exclusive discretion 
to alter the response period on a case-by-case basis. 
(2) Under procedures prescribed by the agency 
head, in the head’s sole and exclusive discretion, an 
agency official other than the proposing official (in 
this subsection referred to as the ‘‘deciding official’’) 
shall decide whether to remove or retain such career 
employee. The deciding official shall review the pro-
posed removal and employee response under para-
graph (1), and may, in their sole and exclusive dis-
cretion, conduct a hearing on the matter. After such 
review or hearing (as the case may be), the deciding 
official shall determine whether the employee shall 
be removed. 
(3) The deciding official’s determination under 
paragraph (2) shall be the agency’s final decision 
unless, within the 7-day period following such deter-
mination, the agency head or designee reverses the 
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decision, in which case the agency head’s or des-
ignee’s decision shall be the final agency decision. 
(4) An agency’s final decision under paragraph 
(3) shall be final and not subject to any appeal or 
challenge, unless the President overrules the agen-
cy’s final decision. 
(c) APPLICATION.—Chapter 43 of title 5, United 
States Code, shall not apply to any personnel action taken 
with respect to an employee under this Act. 
(d) ABOLISHMENT OF MSPB.—On the date of enact-
ment of this Act, the Merit Systems Protection Board is 
hereby abolished. The Chairman of the Board may take 
such actions as are necessary to dispose of the assets, obli-
gations, and liabilities of the Board. 
(e) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 
(1) REPEAL.—The following provisions of title 
5, United States Code, are hereby repealed: 
(A) Subchapter I of chapter 12. 
(B) Section 1212(c). 
(C) Subsections (b)(1), (b)(2)(B) through 
(D), (b)(3), (b)(4), (c), (g), and (i) of section 
1214. 
(D) Sections 1215 and 1221. 
(E) Section 4303. 
(F) Chapter 75. 
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(G) Chapter 77. 
(2) OTHER AMENDMENTS.—Chapter 71 of title 
5, United States Code, is amended— 
(A) in section 7103(a)(14), by redesig-
nating subparagraphs (B) and (C) as subpara-
graphs (C) and (D), respectively, and by insert-
ing after subparagraph (A) the following: 
‘‘(B) relating to adverse personnel actions, 
as provided by the Public Service Reform Act;’’; 
and 
(B) in section 7121(c), by amending para-
graph (3) to read as follows: 
‘‘(3) any adverse personnel action under the 
Public Service Reform Act;’’. 
(f) WHISTLEBLOWER PROTECTIONS.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Within the 14-day period de-
scribed in subsection (b)(1), the Office of Special 
Counsel may make a recommendation to the agency 
head or deciding official on whether an adverse per-
sonnel action taken against an individual was in re-
taliation for making a whistleblowing disclosure. 
(2) APPEAL.—An individual subject to an ad-
verse personnel action who claims such action was 
taken in retaliation described in section 2302(b)(8) 
or (b)(9) of title 5, United States Code, may appeal 
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such action to the United States court of appeals in 
the circuit in which the duty station of the individual 
is located. 
(3) DECISION.— 
(A) If such court is finds that the individ-
ual’s appeal under paragraph (2) is in bad faith 
or frivolous, the individual’s annuity under 
chapter 83 or 84 of such title shall be reduced 
by 25 percent. 
(B) If the individual prevails under an ap-
peal under paragraph (2), the individual shall— 
(i) be placed, as nearly as possible, in 
the position the individual would have been 
in had the adverse personnel action not oc-
curred; and 
(ii) be reimbursed for attorney’s fees, 
back pay, and related benefits, medical 
costs incurred, travel expenses, any other 
reasonable and foreseeable consequential 
damages, and compensatory damages (in-
cluding interest, reasonable expert witness 
fees, and costs). 
(g) EEOC APPEALS.—Notwithstanding any other 
provision of law, including section 717 of the Civil Rights 
Act of 1964, an individual who is an employee or applicant 
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to be an employee and who alleges that the individual was 
subject to an adverse personnel action that is a prohibited 
personnel action described in section 2302(b)(1) of title 
5, United States Code, shall seek relief for such action 
from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission as 
if such individual was an employee of an employer (as that 
term is defined in section 701 of such Act). 
(h) DEFINITIONS.—In this Act— 
(1) the term ‘‘adverse personnel action’’ means 
a removal, a suspension for more than 14 days, a re-
duction in grade or a reduction in pay, and a fur-
lough of 30 days or less; 
(2) the term ‘‘career employee’’ means any em-
ployee who is not a political employee; 
(3) the term ‘‘employee’’ has the meaning given 
that term in section 2105 of title 5, United States 
Code, and includes— 
(A) an officer or employee of the United 
States Postal Service or the Postal Regulatory 
Commission; and 
(B) notwithstanding subsection (b) of sec-
tion 7425 of title 38, United States Code, any 
employee described under subsection (a) of such 
section; and 
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(4) the term ‘‘political employee’’ means any 
employee who is— 
(A) appointed by the President; 
(B) a noncareer appointee (as that term is 
defined in section 3132(a)(7) of title 5, United 
States Code) in the Senior Executive Service; 
(C) occupying a position under schedule C 
of subpart C of part 213 of title 5, Code of 
Federal Regulations; or 
(D) in any other civil service (as that term 
is defined in section 2101 of title 5, United 
States Code) position classified as a political 
position after the date of enactment of this Act 
under regulations as the Director of the Office 
of Personnel Management may prescribe. 
Æ 
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