Public Comment: Submit Comments on OPM Attack on the Merit Systems Protection Board
In addition to legislative, policy, financial, and law-enforcement attacks on our democracy, the MAGA Regime is engaged in a systematic campaign to gut or entirely eliminate environmental, health, anti-discrimination, safety, labor, and other hard-won regulations and policies. Intrinsic to this effort is a systematic campaign to replace the merit-based, nonpartisan, federal Civil Service established by law and substantively reformed after Watergate with a subservient bureaucracy loyal to the President. Now the administration is proposing rules to transfer functions of the Merit Systems Protection Board to the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) in the White House, which would remove procedures for federal employees to appeal personnel actions.
However, we can still register our dissent. Each time the administration attacks an established rule, they must provide a public comment period during which "We the People" can express our opposition. We have no assurance that our comments will sway the MAGA regime. But we have two reasons to say, "No, we oppose:"
Silence equals assent. When we do not consent, we have to stand up and say so.
When a large number of voters register opposition to a regulatory change, we can use that to encourage our members of Congress to block the new rule by passing a Congressional Review Act resolution later in the process, after the administration publishes a final rule. Comments can also support legal challenges to “arbitrary and capricious” final rules.
The portal to submit comments for each of these proposed rules are here:
Suitability action appeals or search regulations.gov for “OPM-2025-0173-0001”; Deadline: March 9, 2026
RIF appeals or search regulations.gov for “OPM-2025-0239-0001”; Deadline: March 12, 2026
In each portal:
Click on “Comment.”
Type in your comment or attach a document.
You may submit comments anonymously. You may submit any relevant comments and you should put them in your own words, but some suggestions are:
I oppose the administration’s effort to limit the appeal rights of federal employees.
Employee appeals belong before a neutral, adjudicatory body like the Merit Systems Protection Board, not an executive branch agency like OPM.
Federal employees should not lose basic due process rights to a hearing and discovery when filing appeals; without such rights, OPM’s proposed process will be one-sided in favor of the agency and unfair to employees.
Unions are entitled to official time to help employees prepare for any appeals. Helping employees fight wrongful agency actions is one of the critical functions that unions provide, helping federal agencies attract and retain qualified professionals to better serve the public.
What and how much you write in your comments is up to you. Short is sweet ("I oppose this rule change.") but long can be cathartic. Note that the number of people who oppose the change are what counts in influencing Congress to resist, not the length or eloquence of their comments. However, the administration will ignore irrelevant comments and will bundle identical, “boilerplate" comments, so, again, it’s best if you submit comments in your own voice.