Senator calls for independent Homeland appeals board

A senior Republican senator Wednesday called for a fair and transparent in-house appeals board in the new Homeland Security Department personnel system.

"It's important that this be looked upon as something that is legit," said Sen. George Voinovich, R-Ohio, chairman of the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee's Subcommittee on Oversight of Government Management, the Federal Workforce and the District of Columbia. Senate Governmental Affairs Committee Chairwomen Susan Collins, R-Maine, made a similar statement Monday.

As part of the new personnel system, DHS officials are attempting to streamline the employee adverse action process by creating a single appeals mechanism for performance and conduct-based reprimands or dismissals. The proposed regulations for the system were released last week and retain the existing Merit Systems Protection Board to hear appeals. MSPB is an independent federal agency charged with adjudicating discipline disputes between federal managers and employees. But it also calls for the creation of a separate internal panel that would adjudicate adverse action appeals. Members of the in-house panel would be appointed by the DHS secretary and can be removed if they are deemed "inefficient," though the new regulations do not spell out what constitutes inefficiency.

Voinovich said that in his previous experience with appointed boards, officials made extra efforts to ensure credibility, often by appointing a bipartisan roster of board members. According to him, the internal board needs to pass "the straight-face test."

In a report (GAO-04-479T) released Wednesday, the General Accounting Office said that DHS employees have less confidence in the appeals process and manager impartiality than other federal workers.

In light of that mistrust, "retention of a qualified and independent third-party to address employee appeals may be especially important," the report noted.

DHS Deputy Secretary James Loy said that the personnel system proposal is not final and the department is still receiving input. He said also that the personnel reorganization is "as important as any intelligence system" to homeland security efforts.

Loy and Office of Personnel Management Director Kay Coles James agreed that the board would be as trustworthy and transparent as possible. James said that she believes "in the integrity of the secretary" to make evenhanded appointments to the appeals board.