Opportunity to File Amicus Briefs in Cases Involving Possible Furlough of Administrative Law Judges

Résumé

The Merit Systems Protection Board currently has seven pending complaints filed by separate agencies pursuant to 5 U.S.C. Sec. 7521 and 5 CFR 1201.131. The basic premise of each complaint is that there is a possibility that Congress may not enact an appropriation or continuing resolution for fiscal year 1996 on or before October 1, 1995, and that the resulting lapse in funding would necessitate the furlough of all agency employees, including administrative law judges. Therefore, the agencies are requesting that the Board make a finding that there is good cause for the imposition of a furlough action against each agency's administrative law judges. The Board also has a complaint filed by the National Labor Relations Board seeking permission to furlough its administrative law judges. The NLRB states in its filing that it anticipates its fiscal year 1996 budget will be insufficient to cover its present rate of spending, and that the furlough of its administrative law judges will thus be necessary to avoid deficit spending. The Board has issued orders in each of the eight cases noting that there is a question whether the procedure provided for by 5 U.S.C. Sec. 7521 is intended to cover