Court Opinion

ID: 9489155
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-05 13:07:13.631729+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:53:21.640793
License: Public Domain

PLAGER, Circuit Judge,
concurring.
I concur in the result.
The plain language of the 1990 amendment to the definition in 5 U.S.C. § 7511(a) regarding who is entitled to the protections of chapter 75 sweeps within the coverage of subchapter II a large group of employees not previously covered, a group that on its face includes people who may be holding positions like Ms. Briggs’. These are positions, such as executive director or staff director of a board or commission, that traditionally have been thought of as serving at the pleasure of *1390their governing body. The limited legislative history of the 1990 amendment suggests that bringing these persons within the protections from removal applicable to competitive service positions was not what the sponsors of the legislation thought they were doing, but they did it.
The narrow question in this ease, then, is whether the language creating Ms. Briggs’ position is sufficiently precise as to exempt it from the inclusion effect of the 1990 amendment. In Todd the language was clear enough for this court to hold that the position was excluded. In this case, the language is less clear. The panel majority concludes that absent clear language in the statute that created the position, the general sweep of the 1990 amendments should prevail. I cannot say they are wrong, though the question is not without substantial doubt in my mind, and I have little doubt that this is not what Congress would have intended had it realized what the impact would be of the 1990 amendment. The Director of the OPM cannot be faulted for wishing the result was otherwise, but the correction if there is to be one lies with Congress.
Finally, it obviously would be preferable if the Board adopted the practice of fully addressing the Director’s stated concerns when the OPM exercises its statutory right to intervene before the Board in a matter the OPM considers sufficiently important. However, I agree that the form in which the Board records its decisions, as a general proposition, is within the Board’s discretion, so long as it does not affect this court’s ability to carry out our review function.