Washington, DC – Representative Gregory W. Meeks, Ranking Member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, today issued a statement following the Office of Legal Counsel’s (OLC) declaration that the Foreign Service Grievance Board is unconstitutional. 

“In yet another example of the Trump administration gutting an independent safeguard Congress put in place, the Office of Legal Counsel is trying to dismantle the Foreign Service Grievance Board with the half-baked argument that it is unconstitutional. Congress expressly made most Foreign Service Grievance Board decisions final, subject to judicial review, to ensure that career diplomats have a fair and impartial forum to challenge retaliation, wrongful discipline, and other unlawful personnel actions. The Trump Administration’s troubling conduct toward the Foreign Service has made clear why these protections matter. This is part of a broader effort to politicize the federal civil service, purge career public servants, and replace them with unqualified political lackeys.” 

“The board serves as a critical check on the Department’s misconduct. Eliminating it would turn over these decisions to the very Department whose actions employees have a right to challenge. Congressional Democrats will defend the protections Congress enacted for the Foreign Service and oppose any efforts by this administration to weaken them.”