White House to make it harder for US federal workers to challenge firings

If the proposal is implemented, workers would not be able to seek remedy through an independent review board.Published On 9 Feb 2026The administration of United States President Donald Trump is making it harder for fired federal employees to get their jobs back by limiting their right to appeal dismissals to an independent review board.The change was proposed as part of a government plan released on Monday by the Office of Personnel Management (OPM). Under the proposal, federal employees seeking to challenge their termination would be required to appeal directly to OPM, which reports to the president, rather than to an independent body known as the Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB).Recommended Stories list of 4 itemslist 1 of 4In Japan’s election, voters hope for relief from rising priceslist 2 of 4Super Bowl drives economic boon in the US ahead of gamelist 3 of 4From blackouts to food shortages: How US blockade is crippling life in Cubalist 4 of 4Understanding the value of gold: Prices, global reserves, and market trendsend of listThe MSPB acts as a mediator between federal workers and the government and has been in place since 1978. After Trump took office, the board’s caseload surged by 266 percent between October 2024 and September 2025. Federal workers who were cut in early 2025 and accepted buyouts received their final paycheques at the end of September.If implemented, the proposal would build on Trump’s broader push to shrink the federal government and limit workers’ ability to challenge those decisions. The administration forced out roughly 317,000 federal employees last year.The move comes amid a separate proposal announced last week that would reclassify high-level career civil servants as “at will” employees. That change would give the administration broader authority to fire career officials who do not align with the sitting president’s agenda, affecting roughly 50,000 workers at the nation’s largest employer.Outlined in a more than 250-page document, the directive would allow workers to be fired if they were “intentionally subverting Presidential directives”.