In an attempt to protect their jobs from President Donald Trump's widespread government layoffs, federal employees are flocking to a little-known and understaffed agency, hoping it would serve as a safeguard against the president and Elon Musk as they demand further cuts.

As the Trump administration continues its push to drastically cut the size of the federal government, the Merit Systems Protection Board, or MSPB, is dealing with a deluge of new cases.

The board is also dealing with what one court recently called Trump's "nakedly illegal" attempt to fire the independent agency's chairwoman too soon. The Trump administration is still attempting to remove the Biden-appointed chairwoman, and she will return to court on Monday for another hearing on her eligibility to remain in the position.

The little-known board will likely be the next big fight for Trump and the federal employees he is attempting to fire. After some judges recently rejected challenges on the cuts, stating that employees and their unions must first go to MSPB to evaluate firings, its increasingly significant role became evident.

According to the board, more than 2,700 new complaints have been filed since Trump's inauguration, and federal employees filed more new cases this week than they did in the preceding 12 weeks combined.

Although the board is now "understaffed," its executive director told CNN that he is certain the board can manage the increase in cases.

Amidst the federal firings, one MSPB employee, who wished to remain anonymous out of concern for reprisals, claimed that the agency's workload jumped from "busy" to "overwhelming" in a matter of days.

The employee told CNN that laid-off workers are also contacting them by phone and email with inquiries, saying, "They are coming in faster than we can process them." "It will take us a long time to recover from this."

The overwhelming volume of new appeals is "shocking," and "the staff must have their eyes bugging out right now," according to former MSPB member Mark Robbins, a Republican appointed by Obama who was on the board from 2012 to 2019.

According to Robbins, the board employs less than 190 people, many of whom are lawyers and "nerds" who are fascinated by federal procedure. By government standards, its $52 million budget from the previous year was insufficient. Musk, a tech mogul who is advising the president on the federal cuts, backed Trump in the 2024 election with more than five times that amount.

In a well reported example, the MSPB has already rendered a ruling on six probationary employees in new positions, reducing their rights and making them a prime candidate for layoffs. Trump's layoffs later that day struck one of those workers, a veteran with a 100% disability, who had been commended by their manager for their "willingness to go above and beyond."

In an initial success for campaigners fighting to safeguard the jobs of thousands more, the board temporarily reinstated the six employees that Trump appointees attempted to terminate on Tuesday.

"We're going to be asking for more extensive relief now that we have this ruling," stated Skye Perryman, head of Democracy Forward, a leftist nonprofit leading these and other legal actions. "The people we represent are representative of a large number of people who were wrongfully terminated without cause in these federal agencies."

The White House has been contacted by CNN for comment.

A crucial "guardrail"
Founded in 1979, the MSPB is a separate, quasi-judicial organization. The board is described as the "guardian of federal merit systems" on its website. As part of the Civil Service Reform Act, a post-Watergate reform that professionalized the federal service and established safeguards against political abuses, it was established following the efforts of President Jimmy Carter and Congress.

Robbins, the board's interim head during a portion of Trump's first term, stated, "It's important to have guardrails up to protect that if you believe in a merit-based civil service – based on qualifications, objectivity, and intelligence, rather than political criteria."

According to the MSPB website, the board upholds "merit system principles," which include only employing qualified candidates, treating employees equally regardless of their color or religion, and prohibiting sanctions based on political beliefs.

The MSPB is the dispute resolution forum for the majority, but not all, of the 2.4 million federal employees in the country. Employees may bring a case, for example, if they are demoted, suspended, or fired.

Both parties may undertake discovery, issue subpoenas, call witnesses, and present evidence at trial-style sessions presided over by an administrative judge. The MSPB board itself may hear an appeal of the judge's ruling. The ultimate decision of the board may then be challenged in federal court.

According to Jenny Mattingley, vice president for government affairs at the Partnership for Public Service, a nonpartisan organization dedicated to enhancing the federal government, the agency is known for being impartial.

They occasionally look for the agency, and other times they look for the personnel. "It depends on the case's facts," she stated. "From that vantage point, agencies and employees have faith in going to MSPB."

Imminent difficulties
There are three members on the MSPB panel. The Senate must confirm the president's appointments to the board. Each of the three board members has a seven-year tenure that overlaps.

The agency's bipartisan character is strengthened by federal law, which prohibits more than two board members from belonging to the same political party. The board now has a Democratic majority of 2-1. In 2022, President Joe Biden chose Cathy Harris as the chairwoman.

Trump could try to slow down the agency's operations and undermine it in a few ways. Given that several federal district court judges have previously stated that they cannot examine lawsuits about mass layoffs if employees do not first go to the MSPB, it might place fired workers in a difficult situation.

Without a quorum, the merit board is unable to make final decisions. The three-member panel loses its quorum if there are two vacancies. The administrative judges of MSPB are still able to hear cases, but since the crippled board is unable to render final decisions, all further appeals are on hold.

There was no quorum for the duration of Trump's first term in office since he failed to fill two vacancies. (It's unclear whether the board sat around in the instability of the Trump period or whether this was a deliberate maneuver.) Under Biden, the board reestablished a quorum in 2022, but not before accruing a sizable backlog of almost 3,800 cases that needed to be resolved.

The board has closed around 94% of the backlogged cases since Harris' appointment restored the quorum, and the agency stated in a report last month that it anticipated resolving all of the remaining cases this year. Harris reduced the backlog more quickly than many anticipated, according to an MSPB staffer who spoke to CNN on condition of anonymity.

In an email to CNN, MSPB Executive Director William Spencer referenced the backlog from Trump's first term and "the influx of more than 32,000 furlough appeals" resulting from the 2013 federal shutdown, saying, "MSPB has experience adjudicating increased workloads."

Trump has the option to appoint a Republican to replace Raymond Limon, a Democratic member whose term ends on Saturday. The member who put a halt to this week's six firings was Limon.

However, there is no immediate danger of a quorum being lost. As permitted by federal law, Spencer told CNN that Limon will continue to serve for another year as he awaits confirmation of a successor by the Senate.

Trump's "blatantly unlawful" action
Trump attempted to oust Harris on his first day in office, which led to a leadership crisis at MSPB.

However, as required by federal law to fire an MSPB member, Harris was not given a reason in the boilerplate termination email that was issued to him on February 10. After a court ruled that Trump's action seemed to be "nakedly illegal," she launched a lawsuit and was temporarily reinstated.

In a decision last week, District Judge Rudolph Contreras stated that "ninety years of Supreme Court precedent" contradicted the Justice Department's claims that Trump could fire Harris at any time and for any reason, adding that "the MSPB's mission and purpose require independence."

Justice Department attorney Madeline McMahon contended during last week's hearing that even if Trump wins and is able to remove Harris "at will," the MSPB may continue to function normally.

"A quorum remains in place," McMahon stated. The agency is still able to operate. With or without her, the two members are able to make decisions.

Harris is scheduled to argue for a longer-term reinstatement at another hearing on Monday. In a recent petition, her attorneys argued that the impartiality of the MSPB is more important than ever, pointing to the "ten-fold increase" in the board's caseload since Trump took office.

Karen Hertz, a federal employment attorney who has represented the MSPB in dozens of recent cases, stated in an interview that the ongoing litigation around Cathy Harris "speaks volumes." "Yes, there are issues, but there are safeguards against them. Furthermore, the president is not authorized to do it. However, this has never occurred before.

Some federal workers were also encouraged by Harris' reinstatement to believe that the Trump administration would not jeopardize the MSPB.

One fired probationary employee from the Department of Health and Human Services, who is assembling evidence for their appeal to the board, said, "It gives me more faith that there's less power on the administration's side to insert their own bias into the process." They asked CNN not to disclose their name.

Trump might attempt to come up with a legal justification for dismissing Harris or any of the other MSPB members. However, it would have to stand up in court.

In reference to the rule that members can only be dismissed for incompetence, negligence, or misconduct, Robbins stated, "It would be very difficult to prove any of the three elements of cause."

Probationary employees were given notice of termination, which stated that they might appeal to the board if they believed their dismissal was due to "partisan political reasons or marital status."

Nonetheless, a number of workers who contacted to CNN anonymously claimed that the appeals process was unclear.

After being fired, a probationary employee at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention began studying the MSPB and the Office of Special Counsel, which also handles employment matters involving federal employees. However, the information was written in difficult-to-understand "legalese" and "governmentese." Trump also dismissed the head of the Office of Special Counsel, but a judge later reinstated him. The Supreme Court is now involved in that controversy.)

The worker stated that some employees have been distributing template appeal letters and that "everyone is trying to figure it out on the fly." "We're all attempting to collaborate in order to resolve this and help one another."