The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee voted on October 6 to advance three Biden administration nominations to the Merit System Protection Board (MSPB). The committee’s action sends the nominations to the full Senate for consideration.
The MSPB is an independent, quasi-judicial agency in the executive branch that serves as the guardian of Federal merit systems to protect against partisan political and other prohibited personnel practices.
The board has lacked a quorum since 2017 – and has been devoid of members since 2019 – which has led to a current backlog of about 3,400 cases for the board to consider.
The nominations approved by the committee are Cathy Ann Harris, as chairman; Tristan Leavitt as a member with a term expiring in 2023; and Raymond Limon with a term expiring in 2025.
Sen. Gary Peters, D-Mich., chairman of the committee, and Sen. Jacky Rosen, D-Nev., said each of the nominees was well qualified, while Sen. Rob Portman, D-Ohio, ranking member of the committee, said he did not support the Harris nomination
