MERIT Act of 2017
Official title: To amend title 5, United States Code, to provide for an alternative removal for performance or misconduct for Federal employees.
Have a question about what this bill does? Ask in plain English; the answer is drawn from the bill's actual text and official record, and it'll tell you when something isn't in the text rather than guess.
Ordered to be Reported (Amended) by the Yeas and Nays: 19 - 11.
Modern Employment Reform, Improvement, and Transformation Act of 2017 or the MERIT Act of 2017
This bill establishes an alternative mechanism for the expedited removal by agency heads of federal employees for performance or misconduct by: (1) limiting an appeal to the Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB) to appeals made not later than 7 days after the date of such removal; and (2) making inapplicable to removals employee protections affording employees at least 30 days advance written notice of the proposed action and a reasonable time to answer the proposal orally and in writing, representation by an attorney, and a written decision.
Upon receipt of an appeal, the MSPB shall issue a decision not later than 30 days after the date of the appeal. In any case in which an MSPB judge cannot issue a decision in accordance with such 30-day requirement, the removal is final.
The MSPB: (1) shall uphold the decision of the agency head to remove an employee if the decision is supported by substantial evidence; and (2) may not stay any removal unless the basis for the appeal of such removal is related to certain prohibited personnel practices.
- Introduced in House Formatted Text PDF Formatted XML
Cite this page
U.S. Congress. (2026). H.R. 559: MERIT Act of 2017. 115th Congress. Open America. https://openamerica.io/bill/115-HR-559/
"H.R. 559: MERIT Act of 2017." 115th Congress, 2026, Open America, https://openamerica.io/bill/115-HR-559/.
H.R. 559, 115th Cong. (2026), https://openamerica.io/bill/115-HR-559/.
[H.R. 559: MERIT Act of 2017](https://openamerica.io/bill/115-HR-559/)