“No person shall be… deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law.”
- 5th Amendment, the Constitution
Due process is a democratic value all Americans cherish. It gives us the right to defend ourselves if accused of wrongdoing. Due process is especially important in a situation where we might be unfairly or falsely accused of wrongdoing. Simply put, without due process, we cannot have a democratic system. Only in a dictatorship where citizens are not protected by a system of due process and could be wrongfully punished. Unfortunately, some politicians are taking our country in that direction.
There are several bills pending in Congress that would gut due process, and the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee on July 17 passed two of them.
These bills seek to game the system and limit due process for America’s workforce to the point where there would not be a fair outcome. Here’s how:
1. The No MERIT Act (H.R. 559)
The bill was introduced by Rep. Barry Loudermilk of Georgia and currently has 55 co-sponsors. See if your representatives are a co-sponsor here. Under the bill:
2. Merit Systems Protection Board Reauthorization Act
The Executive Order issued by the administration already limits your ability to grieve certain issues – it eliminates the grievance/arbitration option for terminations, performance appraisals, and awards. As a result, your only option is to challenge an unfair removal or performance evaluation to the MSPB. But this bill, which reauthorizes and modifies the board’s authority, would make it harder for you to do that. Here’s why:
“Calls to decrease due process rights like those in H.R. 559 and the Merit Systems Protection Board Reauthorization Act are “dog whistles” for making the career service subject to the partisan or personal whims of supervisors and political appointees without real recourse,” AFGE Legislative Director Tom Khan wrote in letter to the House Committee chair and ranking member. “In this case, federal workers will be inhibited from carrying out their jobs in service to the public.”
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