Press Releases

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Congressman James R. Walkinshaw (VA-11), and Congressman Steny H. Hoyer (MD-05), co-chairs of the Federal Workforce Caucus, led 43 Members of Congress in filing an amicus brief in Jackler and Jaroch v. Department of Justice. The brief urges the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit to reverse a Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB) decision that would weaken longstanding civil-service protections for immigration judges and potentially jeopardize due-process rights across the federal workforce.

The filing comes after the Federal Circuit granted an en banc hearing in the case, following an earlier amicus brief led by Senators Van Hollen, Mark Warner (D-VA), Tim Kaine (D-VA), Gary Peters (D-MI), Andy Kim (D-NJ), and Angela Alsobrooks (D-MD).

The MSPB ruled that the Attorney General has constitutional authority under Article II to remove immigration judges at will, despite protections established by Congress through the Civil Service Reform Act. The brief argues that Congress has the constitutional authority to set protections for federal employees, including notice, an opportunity to respond, and the right to appeal adverse personnel actions.

If upheld, the decision could allow agencies to argue that other federal employees deemed “inferior officers” are not entitled to traditional civil-service protections. As the Members write in their brief, “Millions of federal workers would become removable at will—the civil service merit system would functionally cease to exist.” The brief warns that the ruling could undermine the merit-based civil service, expose career public servants to arbitrary removal, and erode Congress’s constitutional authority to govern the federal workforce.

The brief was joined by Representatives Nancy Pelosi (CA-11), Eleanor Holmes Norton (DC), Lloyd Doggett (TX-37), Frederica Wilson (FL-24), Dave Min (CA-47), Veronica Escobar (TX-16), Norma Torres (CA-35), Ed Case (HI-01), Sarah Elfreth (MD-03), Mike Quigley (IL-05), Stephen Lynch (MA-08), Sean Casten (IL-06), Judy Chu (CA-28), Jennifer McClellan (VA-04), Paul Tonko (NY-20), Rashida Tlaib (MI-12), Don Beyer (VA-08), Jamie Raskin (MD-08), Robert Garcia (CA-42), Lateefah Simon (CA-12), Bonnie Watson Coleman (NJ-12), Bobby Scott (VA-03), April McClain Delaney (MD-06), Hank Johnson (GA-04), Glenn Ivey (MD-04), Jan Schakowsky (IL-09), Mary Gay Scanlon (PA-05), Adriano Espaillat (NY-13), Kweisi Mfume (MD-07), Seth Moulton (MA-06), Steven Horsford (NV-04), Gwen Moore (WI-04), Maxine Waters (CA-43), Suhas Subramanyam (VA-10), and Jahana Hayes (CT-05), Johnny Olszewski (MD-02), Emily Randall (WA-06) as well as U.S. Senators Angela Alsobrooks (D-MD), Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), Tim Kaine (D-VA), Andy Kim (D-NJ), Gary Peters (D-MI), and Mark Warner (D-VA).

In their brief, the Members argue that immigration judges are covered by the Civil Service Reform Act and that the President’s Article II authority does not permit the executive branch to disregard Congress’s statutory protections. They also note that the Supreme Court’s recent decision in Trump v. Slaughter, concerning removal protections for principal officers, does not control this case involving immigration judges, who are at most inferior officers.

The brief further warns that the MSPB’s reasoning has no clear limiting principle. If immigration judges can be stripped of civil-service safeguards because of the authority they exercise, countless other career federal employees could face similar challenges to their protections.

A copy of the amicus brief is available here.

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