No. 25A86

Kim Anne Farrington v. Department of Transportation

Lower Court: Federal Circuit
Docketed: 2025-07-22
Status: Presumed Complete
Type: A
Tags: article-iii due-process judicial-review separation-of-powers statutory-interpretation whistleblower-protection
Latest Conference: N/A
Question Presented (from Petition)

The petition for a writ of certiorari will present three questions:

1. Whether Federal Circuit Rule 36(a) affirmances without opinion in Merit Systems Protection Board cases unconstitutionally delegate Article III judicial power to the executive branch in violation of the separation of powers. The President has asserted his Article II authority to remove MSPB members without cause, hence the MSPB is under executive control. See, Trump v. Wilcox, 145 S. Ct. 1415, 1416 (2025) ("The stay reflects our judgment that the Government is likely to show that both the NLRB and MSPB exercise considerable executive power.")

Whether Federal Circuit Rule 36(a) affirmances without opinion violate the Fifth Amendment guarantee of procedural due process by denying aggrieved federal employees meaningful judicial review of agency statutory interpretations.

Whether the MSPB and the circuit judges below erred as a matter of law in upholding the MSPB's conclusion that 5 U.S.C. § 2302(f)(2) allows the executive branch to exclude Petitioner from standard whistleblower protections, despite clear evidence that her disclosures were made outside the "normal course" of her duties.

Question Presented (AI Summary)

Whether Federal Circuit Rule 36(a) affirmances without opinion in Merit Systems Protection Board cases unconstitutionally violate Article III judicial power and the Fifth Amendment's guarantee of meaningful judicial review

Docket Entries

2025-07-29
Application (25A86) granted by The Chief Justice extending the time to file until September 26, 2025.
2025-07-18
Application (25A86) to extend the time to file a petition for a writ of certiorari from July 28, 2025 to September 26, 2025, submitted to The Chief Justice.

Attorneys

Department of Transportation
D. John SauerSolicitor General, Respondent
Kim Anne Farrington
Thad McIntosh GuyerT.M. Guyer & Friends, PC, Petitioner