I 
116TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 3357 
To reauthorize and modify the authority of the Merit Systems Protection 
Board, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JUNE 19, 2019 
Mr. HICE of Georgia (for himself and Mr. LOUDERMILK) introduced the fol-
lowing bill; which was referred to the Committee on Oversight and Re-
form, and in addition to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, for a period 
to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consider-
ation of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee 
concerned 
A BILL 
To reauthorize and modify the authority of the Merit 
Systems Protection Board, 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; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
(a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 
‘‘Merit Systems Protection Board Reauthorization Act of 
2019’’. 
(b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 
this Act is as follows: 
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Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 
Sec. 2. Reauthorize appropriations for Merit Systems Protection Board. 
Sec. 3. Filing fee for Merit Systems Protection Board claims and appeals. 
Sec. 4. Modification to procedures and authority of the Merit Systems Protec-
tion Board. 
Sec. 5. Limitation on furlough appeals to the Merit Systems Protection Board. 
Sec. 6. Reappointment of Merit Systems Protection Board members. 
Sec. 7. Amendments to Department of Veterans Affairs Accountability and 
Whistleblower Protection Act of 2017. 
SEC. 2. REAUTHORIZE APPROPRIATIONS FOR MERIT SYS-
TEMS PROTECTION BOARD. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Paragraph (1) of section 8(a) of 
the Whistleblower Protection Act of 1989 (Public Law 
101–12; 5 U.S.C. 5509 note) is amended to read as fol-
lows: 
‘‘(1) for each of fiscal years 2020, 2021, 2022, 
2023, and 2024— 
‘‘(A) $44,490,000 to carry out subchapter 
I of chapter 12 of title 5, United States Code 
(as amended by this Act); and 
‘‘(B) not to exceed $2,345,000, to be 
transferred from the Civil Service Retirement 
and Disability Fund in amounts determined by 
the Merit Systems Protection Board, for admin-
istrative expenses to adjudicate retirement ap-
peals; and’’. 
(b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This section shall take effect 
on October 1, 2019. 
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SEC. 3. FILING FEE FOR MERIT SYSTEMS PROTECTION 
BOARD CLAIMS AND APPEALS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 1204 of title 5, United 
States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(o)(1) The Board shall establish and collect a filing 
fee to be paid by any individual filing a claim or appeal 
with the Board under this title, or under any other law, 
rule, or regulation, consistent with the requirements of 
this subsection. 
‘‘(2) The filing fee established under paragraph (1) 
may— 
‘‘(A) not exceed the amount that is 50 percent 
of the fee required for filing a civil action in a 
United States district court; 
‘‘(B) be adjusted from time to time as the 
Board considers appropriate; and 
‘‘(C) upon request of the individual filing the 
claim or appeal, be waived by the Board if the 
Board determines the fee would create undue hard-
ship. 
‘‘(3) A filing fee shall not be required with respect 
to any action— 
‘‘(A) brought by the Special Counsel under sec-
tion 1214, 1215, or 1216; or 
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‘‘(B) taken against an administrative law judge 
under section 7521. 
‘‘(4) A filing fee paid by an individual for an appeal 
or claim before the Board shall cover any subsequent filing 
by the individual with the Board during the litigation of 
that appeal or claim. Such fee shall be returned to the 
individual if the individual is the prevailing party.’’. 
(b) DEADLINE.—The Merit Systems Protection 
Board shall establish and collect the filing fee required 
under subsection (o) of section 1204 of title 5, United 
States Code, as added by subsection (a), not later than 
1 year after the date of the enactment of this Act. 
(c) APPLICATION.—The fee required under such sub-
section (o) shall apply to any claim or appeal filed with 
the Merit Systems Protection Board after the date the fee 
is established pursuant to subsection (b). 
SEC. 4. MODIFICATION TO PROCEDURES AND AUTHORITY 
OF 
THE 
MERIT 
SYSTEMS 
PROTECTION 
BOARD. 
(a) SUMMARY JUDGMENT.—Section 7701 of title 5, 
United States Code, is amended— 
(1) in subsection (a)(1), by inserting ‘‘, except 
as provided in subsection (b)’’ after ‘‘kept’’; and 
(2) in subsection (b)(1)— 
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(A) by striking ‘‘The Board may’’ and in-
serting ‘‘(A) The Board may’’; 
(B) by striking the second and third sen-
tences; and 
(C) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(B) The Board, an administrative law judge ap-
pointed by the Board under section 3105, and any officer 
or employee of the Board designated by the Board (as the 
case may be) shall make a decision after receipt of the 
written representations of the parties to the appeal and 
after opportunity for a hearing under subsection (a)(1) of 
this section, except as provided under subparagraph (C). 
‘‘(C) The Board, an administrative law judge ap-
pointed by the Board under section 3105, and any officer 
or employee of the Board designated by the Board (as the 
case may be) may, with respect to any party, grant a mo-
tion for summary judgment. Any hearing under subsection 
(a)(1) of this section shall be limited to the issues remain-
ing in the case, or, if applicable, a decision may be issued 
without holding a hearing. 
‘‘(D) A copy of the decision under subparagraph (B) 
or (C) shall be furnished to each party to the appeal and 
to the Office of Personnel Management.’’. 
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(b) LIMIT ON MITIGATION.—Paragraph (3) of section 
7701(b) of title 5, United States Code, is amended to read 
as follows: 
‘‘(3) With respect to an appeal from a performance 
or conduct-based adverse action under subchapter II or 
V of chapter 75, the Board may not mitigate the personnel 
action involved unless the action is so disproportionate as 
to be wholly without justification.’’. 
(c) EVIDENTIARY BURDEN.—Paragraph (1) of sec-
tion 7701(c) of title 5, United States Code, is amended 
to read as follows: 
‘‘(1) Subject to paragraph (2), the decision of the 
agency shall be sustained under subsection (b) only if the 
agency’s decision is supported by substantial evidence.’’. 
(d) EFFECTIVE DATE; APPLICATION.— 
(1) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made 
by this section shall take effect on the date that is 
90 days after the date of the enactment of this Act. 
(2) APPLICATION.—The amendments made by 
this section shall apply with respect to any appeal 
filed under section 7701 of title 5, United States 
Code, on or after the effective date in paragraph (1). 
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SEC. 5. LIMITATION ON FURLOUGH APPEALS TO THE 
MERIT SYSTEMS PROTECTION BOARD. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 3595a of title 5, United 
States Code, is amended— 
(1) by striking subsection (a) and inserting the 
following: 
‘‘(a) For the purposes of this section— 
‘‘(1) the term ‘furlough’ means the placement 
of a senior executive in a temporary status in which 
the senior executive has no duties and is not paid 
when the placement in such status is by reason of 
insufficient work or funds or for other nondiscipli-
nary reasons; and 
‘‘(2) the term ‘emergency furlough’ has the 
meaning given that term in section 7501(3).’’; 
(2) in subsection (b), by adding after the period 
at the end the following: ‘‘Such regulations shall 
provide for procedures for emergency furloughs for 
career appointees, consistent with the procedures 
promulgated by the Office under section 7504(b).’’; 
and 
(3) by striking subsection (c) and inserting the 
following: 
‘‘(c) A career appointee who is furloughed in excess 
of 14 days is entitled to appeal to the Merit Systems Pro-
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tection Board under section 7701. The previous sentence 
shall not apply to any emergency furlough.’’. 
(b) APPLICATION.—The amendments made by sub-
section (a) shall apply to any furlough occurring on or 
after the date that is 90 days after the date of the enact-
ment of this Act. 
SEC. 6. REAPPOINTMENT OF MERIT SYSTEMS PROTECTION 
BOARD MEMBERS. 
Subsection (c) of section 1202 of title 5, United 
States Code, is amended— 
(1) by striking ‘‘may not be reappointed to any 
following term but’’; and 
(2) by inserting before the period at the end the 
following: ‘‘, unless the member is reappointed’’. 
SEC. 7. AMENDMENTS TO DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AF-
FAIRS 
ACCOUNTABILITY 
AND 
WHISTLE-
BLOWER PROTECTION ACT OF 2017. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 714 of title 38, United 
States Code, is amended— 
(1) in subsection (c)(4)(A), by striking ‘‘, which 
shall refer such appeal to an administrative judge 
pursuant to section 7701(b)(1) of title 5’’; and 
(2) in subsection (d)— 
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(A) by striking ‘‘the administrative judge’’ 
in each place it appears and inserting ‘‘the 
Merit Systems Protection Board’’; 
(B) by striking paragraph (3); 
(C) 
by 
redesignating 
paragraphs 
(4) 
through (10) as paragraphs (3) through (9), re-
spectively; and 
(D) in paragraph (4), as redesignated by 
subparagraph (C), by striking ‘‘paragraph (3)’’ 
and inserting ‘‘paragraph (1)’’. 
(b) APPLICATION.—The amendments made by sub-
section (a) shall apply to any appeal made under section 
714(c)(4)(A) of title 38, United States Code, after the 
date of the enactment of this Act. 
Æ 
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