Federal brief
Personnel Appeals Board; Procedural Rules
GAO’s Personnel Appeals Board proposes e-filing, a required petition form, a 45-day charge window and local practice rules for GAO employee cases. FR 2026-16108.
The Government Accountability Office has its own board for deciding employee disputes, and that board wants to move its cases online. The Personnel Appeals Board (PAB) of the Government Accountability Office proposed rules to modernize how cases are filed and run.
The PAB hears cases brought by GAO employees on matters such as adverse or performance-based actions, discrimination claims, prohibited personnel practices and labor-management relations. It also oversees GAO’s equal employment opportunity process. Its procedures are in 4 CFR parts 27 and 28.
Key proposals: electronic filing and service; a required petition form at the start of each case; no more automatic discovery once a petition is noticed, so an administrative judge can tailor it; local rules to help people representing themselves; removal of the Board’s subpoena sections (4 CFR 28.46–28.50); and clearer language on stays of personnel actions and class certification.
Two practical changes stand out. The window to file many charges with the PAB’s Office of General Counsel would grow from 30 days to 45 days, and charges could be filed by email or U.S. Mail. And the old 4 p.m. filing cutoff would give way to a day that ends at 11:59 p.m. Eastern.
GAO is not covered by the Administrative Procedure Act, so the Board was not required to take comments, but it did; the comment period closed September 8, 2026. The draft local rules and petition form are at www.pab.gao.gov. Contacts: Kimberly McLeod, Executive Director, or Molly Dennison, Solicitor, 202-512-6137.
Federal Register filing: https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2026/08/07/2026-16108/personnel-appeals-board-procedural-rules
This is a Notice Nearby publisher-desk Federal brief — a short in-house summary of a public federal filing. It is not official agency minutes, not a newspaper story, and not Legal Publication. It does not satisfy a statutory notice requirement.
Source: the official public federal record 2026-16108 · Federal Register · 2026-16108 · 2026-16108.
This is a Notice Nearby publisher-desk Federal brief — a short in-house summary of a public federal filing. It is not official agency minutes, not a newspaper story, and not Legal Publication. It does not satisfy a statutory notice requirement.