5 U.S.C. § 7512
Section 7512 · Actions covered
Amended 3 times on record
Applied in 564 court decisions — leading case Nixon v. Fitzgerald (1982)
Most recently applied in Rosemary Jenkins v. US Postal Service (December 2025)
Applied most in the Federal Circuit Circuit (85 decisions)
Cases citing this section usually also cite 5 U.S.C. § 7703 · 5 U.S.C. § 7701 · 5 U.S.C. § 7513
How often courts cite this section
Court decisions citing this, by year.Markers show enactment, consequential amendments, and circuit splits over this section — watch for a citation surge after a change or a disagreement. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.
This subchapter applies to—
(1) a removal;
(2) a suspension for more than 14 days;
(3) a reduction in grade;
(4) a reduction in pay; and
(5) a furlough of 30 days or less;
but does not apply to—
(A) a suspension or removal under section 7532 of this title,
(B) a reduction-in-force action under section 3502 of this title,
(C) the reduction in grade of a supervisor or manager who has not completed the probationary period under section 3321(a)(2) of this title if such reduction is to the grade held immediately before becoming such a supervisor or manager,
(D) a reduction in grade or removal under section 4303 of this title,
(E) an action initiated under section 1215 or 7521 of this title, or
(F) a suitability action taken by the Office under regulations prescribed by the Office, subject to the rules prescribed by the President under this title for the administration of the competitive service.
Editorial notes U.S. Code · Office of the Law Revision Counsel
Prior Provisions
A prior section 7512, Pub. L. 89–554, Sept. 6, 1966, 80 Stat. 528, related to adverse action against a preference eligible employee and procedures applicable to such adverse action, prior to repeal by Pub. L. 95–454, §204(a).
Amendments
2015—Par. (F). Pub. L. 114–92 added par. (F).
1989—Par. (E). Pub. L. 101–12 substituted "1215" for "1206".
Effective Date of 1989 Amendment
Amendment by Pub. L. 101–12 effective 90 days following Apr. 10, 1989, see section 11 of Pub. L. 101–12, set out as a note under section 1201 of this title.