5 U.S.C. § 7543
Section 7543 · Cause and procedure
Amended 3 times on record
Applied in 13 court decisions — leading case King v. Hillen (1994)
Most recently applied in Maria Esparraguera v. Department of the Army (May 2024)
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.
(a) Under regulations prescribed by the Office of Personnel Management, an agency may take an action covered by this subchapter against an employee only for misconduct, neglect of duty, malfeasance, or failure to accept a directed reassignment or to accompany a position in a transfer of function.
(b) An employee against whom an action covered by this subchapter is proposed is entitled to—
(1) at least 30 days’ advance written notice, unless there is reasonable cause to believe that the employee has committed a crime for which a sentence of imprisonment can be imposed, stating specific reasons for the proposed action;
(2) a reasonable time, but not less than 7 days, to answer orally and in writing and to furnish affidavits and other documentary evidence in support of the answer;
(3) be represented by an attorney or other representative; and
(4) a written decision and specific reasons therefor at the earliest practicable date.
(c) An agency may provide, by regulation, for a hearing which may be in lieu of or in addition to the opportunity to answer provided under subsection (b)(2) of this section.
(d) An employee against whom an action is taken under this section is entitled to appeal to the Merit Systems Protection Board under section 7701 of this title.
(e) Copies of the notice of proposed action, the answer of the employee when written, and a summary thereof when made orally, the notice of decision and reasons therefor, and any order effecting an action covered by this subchapter, together with any supporting material, shall be maintained by the agency and shall be furnished to the Merit Systems Protection Board upon its request and to the employee affected upon the employee's request.
Editorial notes U.S. Code · Office of the Law Revision Counsel
Amendments
1984—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 98–615 inserted reference to failure to accept a directed reassignment or to accompany a position in a transfer of function.
1981—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 97–35 substituted “misconduct, neglect of duty, or malfeasance” for “such cause as will promote the efficiency of the service”.
Effective Date of 1984 Amendment
Amendment by Pub. L. 98–615 effective Nov. 8, 1984, see section 307 of Pub. L. 98–615, set out as a note under section 3135 of this title.
Effective Date of 1981 Amendment
Amendment by Pub. L. 97–35 effective June 1, 1981, with certain exceptions and conditions, see section 1704(e) of Pub. L. 97–35, set out as an Effective Date note under section 3595 of this title.